Almost Human
by Rave Luki
Summary: Buffy died, we have Kendra, Kendra turns into Faith. When Buffy died again? We get the last person we'd ever suspect. With the hell mouth destroyed Liz is out to find and train Slayers when she runs into a town with a secret they'd kill to protect
1. Chapter 1

Almost Human

By Rave Luki

Note: This is a SEQUEL. Yes, there was a story before this. GO READ IT! You don't have to, of course, I do a good job covering for it. But if you read the first few chapters and you think I'm so wonderful (Hey, it could happen) that you have to go and read everything else I've ever written then you'll be saddened by the fact that this ruins the surprise from "One More Time." (you don't have to read them all, they're not really that great.)

Second note: I love reviews! I'm very sad that I haven't been getting many. This may mean I suck big time, but I doubt it. Please let me know what you think!

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Chapter 1 

I didn't think anyone would blame me for ignoring him. After all, if a guy said, "Stay here," and then ran off, you'd do the same thing. Well, not the same thing. You would have chased after him. Me, I ran in the other direction.

Why? I don't know. It was one of those feelings I get. That thing that seems to grab me and jerk me towards it, like being roped by a cowboy. Unfortunately the other end of the rope never had a cowboy. No, it had someone in trouble of getting slaughtered by any number of nastys. There was a time when I could ignore this feeling, when it was subtle and less distinct. A time when all I could do was locate a vamp or two… or twenty. Now it was just a problem, a threat, which I could choose whether or not I went to, but couldn't choose to shut off the nagging tug that said it was there. And that tug just doesn't shut up.

So I was running, sort of in a slow jog. When I sprinted I tended to trip, so I had stopped doing that a little over two years ago. Now it was a steady jog, and that same jerk that told me who was in trouble told me how to move. I dodged cars, people, sticks and stands without twisting an ankle or falling on my face. The entire time I was growing closer to an unknown destination. It was too far away, I might not make it. My heart skipped a beat when I realized that, and against my better judgment I sped up. I took a sharp right turn and a horn blared. I jumped, landed on medal, pushed off and kept running. Someone shouted behind me as I turned another corner, disappearing from view.

I couldn't think about what I was doing. My mind wanted to, but it wasn't working. I almost tripped twice, moving a foot wrong and trying to correct myself. My body was moving too fast for the connection my brain had with my sense. It took a few minutes to zone out, to lose control over myself and just let everything go. I felt my body relax, my pace speed up, if someone wasn't almost dead I never would have tried the stunt.

Stopping was so sudden that I almost fell down doing it. There was no transition into walking, it just happened, and my body didn't work that fast. The problem with the powers was it knew what I needed to do to stay alive, and it told me to do it, but I couldn't always react so quickly. So here I needed to walk, but to get here in time I needed to be as fast as possible. Obviously I should run as far and fast as I could, then stop eminently. That shook up my knees, and threw me off balance. If there was someone waiting to attack that would be the time to slaughter me. My powers just didn't get that I was still human.

I tried to focus in on nearby undead. Sometimes if I thought about it they'd come into view for me. It used to be easy, but things had changed a bit since then.

Wind blew across my back, raising hairs. I got the feeling that this scene had to be spooky. I searched for signs of how it looked. Closing my eyes I continued to walk, enjoying the cool breeze on my back. The wind smelled green, like trees. Pine, I think. I loved the smell of pine. A twig crunched under my foot, leaves blew in the wind. There was rustling all around. A park, probably. With a verity of trees losing their leaves to autumn. The path was made of dirt; I could feel it through my sandals. The last sign I picked up was a slight coppery scent, like an after taste in the air. It sat on the back of my tongue like some scents do, causing me to swallow a few times in hope of getting it out of my mouth.

Still walking I focused in on the scent of blood. The wind came from behind me, so it was probably back there, but if the blood came from behind where was I going? My eyes narrowed and I tilted my head, hoping for something. There was no power guiding me anymore, no sign of vampires. Once again I was thinking too hard. Relaxing enough to let my instincts take over me wasn't easy, especially not when the boogie man was close.

Something snapped, and it wasn't me this time. I stopped, knowing damn well that it was probably a bad plan. A part of me wanted to run, it screamed danger: Bad guys approaching. But I couldn't go. The scent was stronger now, blood must have been everywhere. That blood belonged to someone now, a possibly dead someone. I may be too late.

There was another sound, from a different direction. It was a small thump, as if someone had dropped something or stepped too hard. Afterwards came the feeling that people were being too still, that they were cringing from their own dumb mistakes. Vampires should be silent, not making clumsy noises. With any luck they were recently dead. The stillness stopped, a sudden thing, and I just felt movement. People were silently communicating, conversing in ways I couldn't understand. Something was happening and the wind had stopped.

Or it hadn't. I just couldn't feel it anymore. The trees were still rustling, ever so gently, but there was no cool breeze on my back.

It was my turn to be still. I couldn't force myself to be calm, to stop thinking. My mind was still searching the area, demanding for vamps. It wouldn't work, though, I knew that. I couldn't just think them into focus. In fact it was the opposite. I had to think about something else.

It wasn't the cold that made me shiver. It was the feeling that someone was hovering near. Blindfold yourself and everything feels like it's about to fall on you. It's just a sea of darkness. I fumbled to my pocket, digging to the bottom to find my phone. Without taking it out I found the numbers and speed dialed Al. We have a tracking system so he would find me after he was done with his own work. Just in case.

Someone grabbed me from behind, throwing one arm around my chest and digging the other hand into my pocket, pulling out my hand, phone intact, squeezing it until the phone slid from my fingers.

_He had thought it was a weapon. He wouldn't have moved if he had actually known what it was. Even at the moment he was cursing himself, in fear of what his boss might do. He actually thought the word "Boss." But he didn't understand why the girl suddenly got cold afterwards, why she shivered. He wasn't too worried, because he had caught the girl. His boss would be happy, he hadn't let them attack right away. He'd said she was dangerous. He looked up at his boss now, who was staring back silently. There was a quick image, a blur, of actual sight. It was a taller guy, looking to be in the young twenties, wearing all black including sunglasses which were similar to the girl's. He was strong, confident, powerful. _

I had a note of recognition and a shiver ran down my spine. It hadn't been a clear view, I didn't really see anything. Maybe it wasn't him, maybe he hadn't found us. Maybe I shouldn't be afraid if he had. The uncertainty churned my stomach. But I didn't feel any power wash over me, didn't get any vibes sent my way.

"Slayer," he said it arrogantly, as if he had won and I was at his mercy.

And I sighed in relief. It wasn't him.

I had a clear view now in my mind. A trip inside my captor's head had cleared it all up, and I knew what to do. The fallen phone wasn't needed anymore.

The vampire who had spoke walked forwards. "Slayer, how do you want to die?" He taunted, his voice high with excitement. The flunkies on either side of us chuckled, fear slipping through. I was a slayer, that was scary, but their boss knew what he was doing, or so they thought.

In any case I had an answer. "Accidentally, right in front of the big bad's eyes, when he had nothing to do with it."

Obviously he wasn't amused. The vamp scowled at me. "Do you know who I am?" He yelled, "Do you know who you're talking to?"

I nodded, slowly. "Just another wanna be big shot who thinks he can get to the top before someone else beats him to it."

Growling came from behind me and the arm around my body squeezed. From what I had seen from this guy he thought his leader was all that. He truly believed the guy was the next big thing. I almost felt guilty for having to break the news. Almost.

The leader walked up to me, getting real close, so close he almost touched. I could feel his breath when he talked. "I'm the most powerful vampire in this city, and soon I'll show that to the world."

"You," I corrected, "Are the second most powerful vampire in this city."

He glared. "And who's the first?" his tone was mocking.

"My boyfriend," I said bluntly. And in the confusion that followed I grabbed the arm that held me, jerked it out to punch the vamp in front of me with, and then while he fell backwards swung the vampire I was holding onto into one of the smaller guys. It had only taken seconds for me to get free and on top of this fight.

Then the vampire I had at my back decided to jump on top of me, tackling me to the ground. I heard the others getting to their feet as I fought to get an advantage. The vampire on top of me had me straddled, his fingers were digging into my neck. He was probably trying to choke me. I forced myself to my knees, even with the vampire's weight above me. He tried to push me back down but I grabbed his head and yanked it side ways, trying to snap it. He gave the appropriate shreik and I was able to pull him off me.

Then once again I was on my feet. I stumbled forward, grabbing for something I knew was there. My hand hit a tree branch. It was wet and sticky, but still wood. I snapped it off and stood my ground, waiting for the next challenge.

All four of them were on their feet, surrounding me as they inched forward. I stared strait ahead, listening to their steps as they approached. They were more cautious than last time, not knowing what I would do next. I just kept waiting.

In fear the smallest one charged. He punched at me, and it hit. For being so small he sure was strong. I stumbled back, hitting the tree behind me and he came again. He tried to swing a second time but I grabbed his arm with my free hand. Someone else grabbed my shoulder. It was the big guy who had been holding me. Not wanting two vampires at once this close to me I took the one I was holding and twirled him around as if we were dancing. Then with my leg I quickly tripped him, and he fell onto something pointy and wooden. I wasn't sure what, I had just known it was there.

Three hisses came in union. The vamp holding me had his nails digging tighter into my skin. I was bleeding and he hadn't even really cut my shirt. I grabbed hand, trying to detach it from my shoulder. It was like pulling at my own skin. His fingers just wouldn't unclench. He took hold of the hand that was holding onto him, and slowly began pulling it away. I blinked as he pulled on me. I tried to struggle, but he didn't waiver.

Obliviously comparing who was stronger wasn't getting me anywhere so I let him have my arm, but before he could twist it to some odd angle I kicked him in the shin. He growled, squeezing my shoulder harder, digging fingers into my skin.

I cringed, my shoulder in instinct turned away from him. But he gripped tighter. I tried to jerk harder, but that was a very, very bad plan that resulted in me screaming. "Holy crap!" I cried as I tried again to unclamp his hand. "You couldn't just bite me like a normal dead guy," I yelled. The remaining small guy laughed to my right. He reached out and grabbed my ankle and I glared down at him. He didn't let go so I kicked him in the face. Of course this led to the big guy hurting me more.

I'd had enough of this. Quite frankly my shoulder hurt, but worse than that he was restricting movements. There were still two other vampires to keep track of. So I braced myself, clenched my teeth, and pulled very, very hard and down away from him. My shoulder was forced out of his grip, but his fingers had been under my skin, and left my shoulder shredded. I bit my lip to stop from screaming, and thankfully no one moved for a second.

It didn't take much more than that second for me to move, and I started by twisting my wrist out of the big guy's hand. Finally I was free, bleeding, but free.

Standing up strait, I took a moment to place the vampires. Two off to the left, the big guy and the leader, than the short one on the right. Waiting for them to move I tried to make a plan. The fight could happen so many different ways, but I didn't want it to take too long.

When the vamps came at me I was ready. I used my bad arm to block punches, choosing to dodge instead when I could. I kicked the big guy back while dodging a blow from the little one. I punched at him, got hit by their leader, fell down a few times, but always got back up, stake in tow. The big guy tried grabbing me again, but he wasn't being careful. I let him take hold before stabbing him in the heart. He turned to dust and things got better.

The little guy just ran away. He saw two of his pals get beat and had had enough. The remaining vampire yelled after him, but did not follow. He was going to keep fighting all by himself.

Growling in frustration he turned back to me. He just stared for a moment, sizing me up as if he'd never seen me before. I stood still, letting him look. "Who are you?" He asked. But before I could answer he attacked.

Punch, block, duck, jump… He hit me once or twice, but not hard enough that it did anything, and no harder than I had hit him. He swung and I blocked with my bad arm. It wasn't healing, and I was using it too much. Frowning I fought for time, just so it could patch itself together so that it wouldn't hurt. I stomped on the vamp's foot, hard.

He yanked back, surprised, putting distance between us.

"You're not new," he made it an accusation.

I shrugged. "No, I'm not." My skin was healing, but not quickly.

"How? There were only two slayers. They're in Europe," he said.

Sighing I stretched my shoulder as skin and blood began to noticeably move back in place. I wasn't so much healing as rebuilding, using a lot of the same supplies. The chunks of skin and blood that had been removed had to be regrown, but the rest of me was recyclable.

"Faith and Buffy are in Europe," I agreed. "But you're forgetting that the slayerettes have been around for two years now. Not that I'm one of them, but yeah, two years is long enough to learn to kick a few vamp's asses."

He looked uncertain. His eyes shifted from my face, to my almost normal shoulder, then back to my face. He was probably trying hard in that last fight, and getting nowhere. Then I go and do something even a slayer can't.

The vamp started to back up, probably planning to run. But he never got the chance. At that moment a stake slammed into his heart, he may have even walked into it. One way or another, his shocked face burst with the rest of him, showering the man behind him in dust.

Alucard stood waving away the dust. He was about six inches taller than me, placing him around six feet. His hair was black, grown out to be shaggy because I liked the feel of it. His eyes were blue, and wide, and captured everything. He saw every detail and examined it thoroughly before dismissing it. After two thousand years of being undead you learn that everything can count. Right now he was surveying the scene. He'd started with me, but I was still in tact and self efficient, something else wasn't as lucky.

"You never listen," Al muttered as he began to walk around.

Shrugging, I grinned at him. "You didn't think I would, did you?" I asked.

He smiled despite himself. "I had hoped when you didn't follow me. But I'm just not that lucky." He was circling the area, pausing here and there to touch or look at something. His tone turned serious. "Who were these guys?" He asked.

"Another group of weeds," I muttered.

Alucard grimaced. "Damn I hate those guys," he muttered as he knelt down next to something. "Was their leader here?" He question.

"You killed him," I stated.

Alucard nodded, getting to his feet. He finally walked over to me, taking time to examine my shoulder. He fingered the shredded cloth and perfect skin, seeing what had happened. Then he made sure I didn't have any other injuries. Any other scrapes and bruises had already healed, and when he was sure of it he relaxed, satisfied.

"What happened?" I asked finally.

I felt his frustration. I didn't have to be touching him to get his feelings. We were closer than that. It wasn't like the vampire who could only show me thoughts, Alucard could wrap me up inside himself, sharing thoughts, feelings and memories if he wanted. When I touched him, he could let me feel what he felt, hear what he heard, and most importantly, see what he saw. Right now he wasn't doing that, he was just touching me, nothing special. But it was hard not to share some thoughts when we were this close.

"I think it was another Slayer," said Alucard, slightly uneasy. I waited for him to explain. "It was a bloody massacre." I probed his mind, asking to see, but he just shook his head. "Bastards think they're the Boss. Think they can act like him. They don't even know what they're doing." He was getting angry, and I couldn't blame him.

The Boss was dead. I had killed him. I had stopped a rise of power so strong it could have controlled the world. He was the strongest, oldest vampire in the Americas, who had organized a circuit of underground power that gave him control of everything, everyone, who was even related to the supernatural. Not directly, of course, but the link was still there.

I hadn't known how strong he was, how much he meant, when I killed him. I knew that he wasn't supposed to die, that I was. I knew that by killing me he would gain a power so strong that no one would have been able to contend with him. It was a scary thought. But things happened, events changed. Thanks to a Lerian named Airaei, myself in a former life of sorts, I avoided death, then returned to the Boss's layer and almost died with him. It was a long, complex story, which ended with me hanging out with Alucard, the Boss's former right hand man, and Airaei's lover.

Funny how life works out. Not so funny are some of the side effects.

While all the slayerettes that came about from Willow's spell are now around to kick butt, there's no one to train them. The Slayer gang moved to Europe, but I missed that bus while stuck in another world recovering from being stabbed in the heart (by myself). However I could still help. There were Slayers in America, and here I was saving them from evil vamps and all the damn weeds trying to pull off the Boss's tricks.

You see, when the Boss died, the underworld didn't know what to do. Someone had to take control, but who? Parties sprung up like weeds (hence the name) and from all over America, not to mention Canada, Mexico, and some places further south, vampires, demons and other worldly monsters vowed to gain control. But most didn't have the power.

Now the Boss got his power in a number of ways. For one, he was hella old. I mean he had horns and blue skin and other freaky things that come with age. Then he had learned magic, caste spells, and created his own dimension where stabbing him in the heart with a stake didn't do much. Finally he had found this ritual that would up a vamp's power to no end. But there were rules, regulations, and timelines; else it wouldn't be very effective. You needed dates, times, constellations. Everything had to be in place. Then of course, you need a Slayer, and you needed to drain her, very quickly, with other sacrifices done at the same time. It was a huge ordeal. And it has to be done thirteen times. Then you're invincible. I was number thirteen, and it backfired for the Boss.

The weeds didn't know all the rules and regulations, but some had gotten wind of the ritual. They found some newly made Slayers and began trying it out. It wasn't a pretty picture. Last time Alucard had let me look.

"The word's getting out," I muttered grimly. "There's going to be a sea of Slayer blood before this is through." I paused a moment. "Where's Steph?"

Alucard lost his seriousness, but kept the gloom. "She's coming," he said. "The girl may be an airhead, but she knows how to fight vamps. I left her with my phone to find us while she took care of a few things." I was almost annoyed he'd left her alone with vampires, but he was right. She could handle it. The thought almost disappointed him. But even for as much as he despised our new trainee he wouldn't wish death upon a Slayer right now. We were losing numbers. Who knew how many girls became a Slayer because of that spell, or how many have died because of it.

Alucard wrapped an arm around me, sensing unhappy thoughts. I leaned my head against him and smelt blood. "You stink," I said without pulling away.

He shrugged. "Yeah, well you're covered with it and getting me all sticky, and I'm not complaining."

Groaning I rubbed my arms. Sure enough they were covered with blood and dirt. I just hadn't been paying attention.

There was crunching behind us, accompanied by deep breathing and the occasional yelp. Alucard and I sighed together, turning to face Stephanie as she crashed through the branches. Pulling tighter to Al I saw her face as she looked around. Not clearly, but clear enough. Wide eyes were assaulted by the grisly scene and her mouth hung open. She stood gapping, her nose twitching behind a hand.

"What happened?" She squealed.

"Bad guys," Alucard said as his only explanation. "Get used to it." He wasn't very nice to her. He wasn't very nice to most people.

Stephanie turned to face me for support. "They're dead," I said to console her a little. "They're dead and won't bother you," she was beginning to look relieved before I continued. "But they're not the worst you'll see," her face fell, "and we're heading out."

"Wha… what?" she whimpered. Alucard couldn't hide his smile. He made no secret that he didn't like the perky, ditzy girl. She may be good in a fight, but living with her wasn't fun.

I just sighed. "Tomorrow we've got to go. You aren't as helpless as you act, but others are. So we have to move on." That was true. Another Slayer's death was enough to kick us in gear. But I didn't really like her, either.

We both listened to her whine for awhile. The blood and guts lay forgotten as she wailed. Neither of us said much. Alucard just held me close, thanking me for the decision. He had no problem putting up with one last fit if it meant tomorrow we could be out of here. He would have chosen to leave sooner, but it was my decision to make. I thought it was a good one, and it would be, just so long as Stephanie didn't end up dead.

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Ta da! I'm finished. Now you get to review. 

Till next time,

Rave


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Warm, soft leather engulfed me as I curled up in the seat, my head resting against a cold window that ruined the illusion. If I thought hard enough I could imagine I was on a couch, drifting to sleep in a cozy, dark room. But then there's that glass against my ear saying hold on, you are still in a car. I would move, or put on the hat I had scrunched up in one of our bags, but it really wasn't worth it. I was comfortable, relaxed, and as close as I could get to dozing off at the moment. Besides there was Alucard's coat keeping me warm, and the window wasn't uncomfortable. No need to move or to alert Al that I wasn't really asleep.

A soft stream of music played from the CD player we'd installed into the old car. It was a 1990 Toyota Camry that looked worse than it should. One of the side effects of fighting demons is that things tend to get destroyed. Buffy's house was a key example. They were always replacing walls, windows, and furniture. We just had to try to make do with dents, cracks, and other small car troubles that ended up costing an arm and a leg, which we were thankfully reimbursed for.

The watcher's guildwas almostdestroyed. All the highest ranking people had been blown up. It was a terrible accident. Not to mention a huge loss of wisdom. But the watcher set up was being rebuilt. All of the survivors had gathered together to move on. During their paper work and investigation as to what all the older and wiser members knew, they discovered a small fortune in money. My friend Giles was now one of the guys in charge, and he set forth using that money usefully. One of those uses was to employ Alucard and me. We were paid to go around and save these girls. I don't think he trusted us to do it on our own.

I wasn't heartless, I would've helped anyway. Don't know how I'd make a living, but I'd be out there fighting the good fight. Alucard would be by my side, but only because it was my side. Any other other Slayer wouldn't be worth it to him. But I was, and they were worth something to me, so he cared. He was a very good boyfriend.

We were on the sixth cycle through this CD, listening to Al's favorite song once again. While I liked the song I didn't need to hear it more than twice in one car trip. Alucard like the CD, and he didn't mind repeating things. So since he truly thought I was asleep (for good reasons) he figured it didn't matter what I thought at the moment. If I had been moving and chatting or even sitting up strait he would switch the CDs every few rounds, just because he knew I preferred it. See, didn't I say he was a good boyfriend?

Not that I was the hardest girlfriend to humor. I didn't need to eat much, so there weren't many fancy dinners to pay for. I bring in all the money anyway so it wouldn't have mattered. I didn't require gifts, and we didn't have space for them. I don't do the PMS thing, so the mood swings generally aren't around. And to top it all off I'm not exactly normal, mortal, or human.

You see, about one hundred and forty-one years ago I was cursed. It wasn't the worst sort of curse, no diseases or pain or ugliness. It wasn't one of those hexes you use to get back at people, or the small, annoying little things that don't allow you love or happiness or any of those positive emotions. No, this was a little more complicated, planed by the one and only Boss, to keep me alive long enough to use me for his own, sinister means.

This curse is very specific, and I learned quite a bit about it over the years, most of that two years ago in the big show down between me and the big guy. (In truth the Boss wasn't that big, he was my height). Before the curse was broken four years ago (long story, having to do with Buffy dying twice) I never needed to eat, sleep, drink or breath. I literally couldn't, to be honest. Trust me, I've tried, didn't work. Eating and drinking ended badly. Things came back up. On the plus side, I couldn't die. Tried that, too. You name it, I tried it. Well, I never threw myself out of a plane. I had been working on the idea. But I'm not so good around heights and I never got up the nerve to give it a shot.

To the point though. I can't die. There was a two year period where I could, but I didn't. I did age though, and I must say I look better at nineteen. More adult. People don't question the I.D. that claims I'm twenty-one anymore. I can't put my true age though, no one would believe it.

Want to know the trick? It's all revolves around the number three. So powerful, that little number. The whole spell is tied together with it. There are three ways to break the spell, three things I have to do for each way, Three ways to get it to work… and I'm sure there are other little bits of three that I haven't picked up yet. Want to know which way I used to break it? I became the third Slayer. There was Buffy, then faith, then me. And we were alive as a happy little family. Then there were all the others, all the potentials coming into their power, and there were many, many more than three. Just like that I was back to being cursed. Leaving that option out, unable to be tried again unless the demons get their way and slaughter enough of the newly made Slayers.

The other two ways are a little more mundane, but equally hard. I have to kill my three worst enemies, or my three best friends. Neither seem likely. You see there was this nasty vampire who was my arch nemesis back when I was normal, the first time, who could be considered my first worst enemy. But he's dead, killed by some other Slayer about a hundred years ago. Unless I see two more meanies who out do him that option's tossed out the window. However I'm one bad guy down, the Boss is dead by my hand. As for friends? There was a time where I felt responsible for a friend's death. He took my place in a raid and died because of it. To this day I wish that I had gone instead, but I've coped with it and I know it's not my fault. So for that part to work I'd need a new best friend. And to kill Alucard and Zeke.

Let's not talk about Zeke. He's not a happy subject as of this moment. I try to avoid thinking about him. I figure one day he'll show back up and we'll face that demon, but for now, he's not here.

Where was here? I'm not sure. Probably in Montana. Since that's where we're headed. Six times through a CD puts us at over three and a half hours of driving. He said we'd be there in four or five. Thank god for early sunsets, fall was good for that. And then after day light saving's time things only got better. With Alucard being a vampire and all that we lived at night. That didn't always work out with hotels, especially in small cities.

Believe me, we were going to a small city. Brunsee, Montana. Where is that? Not quite sure, it wasn't on the map. And we looked on several maps. Somewhere in western Montana, in a forest. That's what I knew. Thank the European Wicca for our information. They gave us directions to the place. I think they had to use magic to dig it all up, the hotel certainly sounded surprised when I called and asked to have a room for a week or so. I guess they must not advertise much. On the bright side I asked if it was okay if we showed up around eleven. They didn't seem to mind.

So we were heading for the latest Slayer. Unfortunately the Wicca couldn't give us much info on her. She wasn't too old, which meant probably not twenty. Other than that they didn't know anything. It was always annoying when they couldn't give us any details. They sent us to New York once to find one knowing only that her name was Ashley. Do you have any idea how many teenage girls there are in New York with the name Ashley? The first Slayer we found wasn't the right girl. But we hung onto her, trained her, got her ready to go, then yelled at the Wicca people for about an hour on how they can't send us to crowded places with nothing to go on. We never did find Ashley. There was Brenda, and Stacy, and Jewel, but no Ashley.

I heard Alucard start to sing along with one of the songs, softly, quietly, almost without thinking. I smiled into his coat, knowing that it hid my mouth so that he wouldn't see the movement if he checked. If I was suddenly found to be awake he'd blame his singing, and he'd stop. I liked listening to him sing, though. He wasn't particularly good, my brother was better, but it was cute. Besides, acoustic rock was great, and he should be able to sing along if he wanted to.

I shifted a little, barely moving. It was a movement like rolling in your sleep, where you're just trying to get more comfortable. I felt Alucard glance over at me, staring longer than he should have while driving at night, but my stillness convinced him I was asleep. I was good at being still. At least sometimes. As I said before I didn't need to breath. Not normally at least. I didn't run off of air, and food, and blood. I ran off of magic. Pure, unaltered magic. I took on the feeling, the mood, the power of the magic surrounding me. Don't believe me? Well, you've never seen me thrown into a crowd of blood thirsty vamps that are all dying to sink their teeth into my flesh. It's maddening to have all their magic sink into me. A nice loss of reality. Thankfully there was a witch around to stop me from trying to eat myself.

Now, there are sometimes when the magic willkind of… back off. It never used to happen, not before the curse went and came. It is one of the many new things that sprung up when the cursed returned. Sometimes I have to eat, I have to sleep, and I have to breathe. My heart beats, my blood flows, and for just a moment I feel alive. That doesn't happen a lot, normally the gaps in betweenare weeks, but it's always a hassle when they hang around at bad times. Like when we were fighting this really gigantic insect. I don't like bugs, and this one had pinchers and foul breath. We were fighting, and I was all un-hurtable, and then bam, I was hungry, there was a gnawing in my stomach. During this distracting moment those pinchers shoved themselves into my stomach, which hurt, and didn't heal nearly quick enough. I was worried I'd become a little too human for such an adventure. But Alucard rushed to the rescue and I healed just fine. Afterwards we went to dinner.

Did I mention I can heal? It's a great thing. Like in that last fight. Cut me up and I piece myself back together. It's part of that not dying bit. I've literally decapitated myself. But somehow the head stuck and it all glued itself up, not even leaving a scar. I had one scar on my neck, from my first vamp bite. Of course from back when I was human.

I'm only cursed you say, still human, but just cursed. I suppose that's true. By all logic I am only human. Dating a vamp doesn't change that. So what did? Again it comes to the Boss, except this doesn't exactly have to do with him, this has to do with Airaei.

What is Airaei? Who is she? Well, she's a Lerian. One of a very arrogant species that doesn't have solid form. They're like spirits, except not. It's odd, and hard to explain. But the important part is that they're similar to Liberian scholars. They want to know everything, and have their ways of doing so. They'll travel to other dimensions, spend about five hundred years in one, and gather information while there. Their methods are unusual though. They 'borrow' the souls of people form the future who'll make a difference in the world, then store the memories of the people they borrow away in their vault. When borrowing the souls they take on part of the person they are. In some cases they become that person. Airaei looked almost exactly like me. And we were more alike than most. She was also a Slayer. There are all sorts of little things that can be similar.

The difference between her and the other Lerians that came to Earth was that she grew to care about humans. I guess it's because she fell in love with one. Alucard was her body guard, and they got too close. In the end Alucard was turned into a vamp by a bad guy controlled by the Boss, and was told to kill Airaei. He did, and she died. It wasn't a happy ending.

However here I am, the real, and future life, out of our duo. Airaei never should have returned to our dimension, she had no reason to stop events from unfolding as they should. The Boss should have killed me and taken over the world as was predicted. It wasn't a prophecy, just a memory. A known fact. But Airaei interfered. She came back in my dreams, and did something, just interfered, and things changed. So here I am, in a future the Lerians have no comprehension of. They're probably still fuming two years after the fact.

Now, the big deal here, the not human part, was what happened right before I faced the Boss. Airaei… walked inside of me. She gave me her memories, her feelings, her thoughts, just herself. That's how I know how alike we are, and how different. She's still inside me, but it's no longer like a separate person. We're just me, and I have no problem with that, but sometimes it still seems like there's two people in my head. Not to mention I think part of the new abilities I've come up with have to do with Airaei. How? I don't know. But she's the changed veriable between the two times I've been stuck in this state. Somehow or another it all has to do with her. How much of her power did she leave in me with her memories? It's frightening to guess. I don't know that much about the Lerians.

"Liz," I barely heard the voice through my thoughts. "Liz I can feel your head buzzing. If you're asleep I'm a pig." I smiled again into his jacket, trying to smother my thoughts and relax into stillness again. He wasn't buying it though, and as he drove he was already starting to change CDs. Maybe he was tired of A Perfect Circle. But I doubted it.

I made one of those small, waking up noises that girls make and I felt Al smirk in satisfaction. In that one movement he said "Ha! I win." Though he actually never used those words aloud, it was my phrase. But everyone had some way of saying it. I was just more blunt than most. When I wanted to announce a victory I didn't go through the trouble of usingeasily over looked facial expressions, I just said it.

"How close are we?" I said groggily. He wouldn't believe I was asleep, but maybe he'd believe that at one point I had been.

He shrugged, shoving in some other CD and turning the volume low so that it would only be background noise. "Not too long now. If the directions are right," he said. "How're you doing?" he asked.

I lowered his jacket so that it wasn't covering my face, but I kept it draped over my body like a blanket. "Mmm, not bad," I murmured with a yawn. "Just enjoying the quiet. It's a nice change."

Alucard nodded, not needing to talk. I felt his agreement. We were both used to big cities and traffic with the noise of neighbors, kids, and animals all about us. Just the sound of our car driving with an occasional car passing now and again was nice, soothing, one of the reasons I'd just been sitting and relaxing. We sat together in that silence and I leaned back into the seat, my eyes half closed. "Don't go to sleep on me," Alucard cautioned. "I need someone to talk to if I get drozy."

I groaned softly in mock annoyance. "Just put your CD back in, I know you want to listen to it."

He shook his head. "You're better company."

"Good to know."

Alucard smirked again. "You can't be that tired," he pointed out.

"I'm not," I agreed reluctantly. "Not that tired at all. Just comfortable. Don't wanna move."

"Ah," Alucard murmured. "I see. Well, you don't have to then."

Smiling to myself I began to move anyway.The seats were separate, but not too far apart, and only with the parking break between them. I was able to snuggle up next to Alucard while maintaining some comfort and not getting in the way of his driving. He switched to using mainly his left hand anyway, draping his right around my shoulders to pull me closer. It took about two seconds for it to get uncomfortable, but I shuffled around a bit until things got better. Alucard waited for me to adjust, I felt him watching me.

"Keep your eyes on the road," I muttered.

Alucard laughed. "You're no fun. Besides I'm not going to hit anything. There hasn't even been a car on the road for the last forty minutes," Alucard stated.

I shrugged against him. "So? There's got to be something on the sides of the road. And at the speed I'm sure you're going I'm sure it would be unpleasant to hit anything."

"How would you know how fast I'm going?" Alucard asked. I just smiled until he chuckled softly more to himself than to me. "I'm not going too fast," he said in defense. I raised an eyebrow and he didn't have to see it to know what I was doing. "Really."

"Uh-huh," I said, hiding all sarcasm from my voice as I snuggled closer to him.

"Well at least I managed to cut time off of the trip. I think we're almost there," Alucard said. I tried to sit up but his arm resisted my movement, squeezing me a little tighter. "We aren't that close," he said, "no need to get ready to get out yet." Not wanting to move that badly I relaxed against him without a fuss.

The rest of the trip went quickly enough. I felt the car slow down not long after our conversation, and then he took a turn. We seemed to go strait for a long time before we took a few more turns. It wasn't long before we slowed down even more then finally came to a stop. Begrudgingly I pulled away from Al, stretching a bit as I did so. This time he just sighed and did the same.

Hearing Alucard get out of the car my hands searched the floor board for my purse, as always it was to my left and easy to find. I was throwing it across a shoulder when Alucard opened my door for me. I flashed him a quick smile as I pulled myself out of the car. He shut the door for me before opening one of the back ones to search for something else. I did the after-a-long-drive ritual of re-putting up my hair, brushing wrinkles out of my clothes, and rubbing my eyes awake under my sunglasses. It was one of those times where you knew you looked a little sloppy, but had done your best to improve things. The next thing on the list was a shower, and a real nap.

Alucard had found what he was looking for and came back to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. We stood there a moment, taking a deep, unneeded breath. I leaned against him, resting my face on his chest and breathing him in. It only took a moment for him to open up to me, so that when I pulled away I could look around at the hotel where we'd be staying.

The Hotel looked old. The whole town did, really. I followed Alucard's gaze, examining the road we were standing on the side of. It was dirt, but packed from years of traffic. Buildings and houses lined the road, but not too many. There really wasn't more than a convenience store, a diner, a gas station,what looked to be a school at the end of the road, and a building that was labeled town hall. Add in a fewold houses and you had avery, very small town. Not even a McDonalds.

All the buildings that were there were made from wood. It smelt very woodsy, which made sense, because the entire town was surrounded by forests. Alucard knew that there had been two streets branching off from the road that led into town, but other than that I didn't see any additional roads. Our heads turned back to the hotel. It was two stories, with a porch leading up to the front door. There were a lot of windows, and through them we saw either faded blue curtains to the right, or what looked to be a small restaurant to the left. Other than the town hall this was the biggest building on the road.

Alucard walked me up the steps to the porch, then opened the door for me and led me inside. One of those bells that rested above doors rang out to announce our arrival. Instantly I smelt food, greasy and fried. It wafted in from a door to the left, accompanied by the thick smell of alcohol. I raised an eyebrow, wondering how this place managed to be a bar and a hotel. It actually made sense, since this town probably didn't get a lot of visitors. Unless people came out here to hunt or something I couldn't think of a reason they'd bother.

There was a small bell on a desk in the entry. Alucard and I stood there awhile, looking around the room before I hit the bell. Alucard frowned at me, as if not having wanted me to do that. Maybe he figured someone would come out, but I just wanted to make sure they knew we were here. Standing around staring at tacky wallpaper didn't seem like a better idea.

I heard footsteps coming our way and turned to see a plump middle-aged lady walk into the room, taking short quick steps and fidgeting with a charm on her necklace as she came. Alucard and I gave her our best we-won't-hurt-you smiles, pretending to be nice, normal people. She returned the smile, though hers, also, seemed less than legit. She walked behind the desk, sitting in an old wooden chair as she pulled out a dusty binder. She flipped through a few pages before finally stopping at one.

"Ah, yes," she said, her voice soft and almost relieved. "You must be the Mr. and Mrs. Blake."

I smiled a little wider, trying to make it look like a "Why, yes we are," when in fact we weren't. Well, Alucard wasn't. Blake was my last name, but we found it easier to just say it was for us both.

Now, Alucard actually did the talking. "That would be us, Mam," he said, putting on that perfect, respectful, young man face. You know, the one guys like to wear when meeting their girlfriend's parents. Alucard had a way of making anyone think he's a nice, friendly guy. That trait came in handy.

The woman behind the desk didn't seem to take any notice. She just continued with her work. "Well then, we have you staying in room fourteen. That's right up the stairs and all the way down the hall." She smiled up to us as she made the announcement. Handing us the keys her job was done. "We have the pub open until midnight, so you can get supper if you'd like. Will you need any help with bags?" Alucard said no. "Oh, good. Well, if you need anything I'll be working right through here," she motioned to the pub, "don't hesitate to ask." And with that she was back on her feet hurrying to the room she had come from.

Alucard and I just stood there for a moment. "Huh," I murmured softly. "She's an odd one."

Al smiled but made a motion for me to hush. "I'm gonna walk you to the bar then get our bags upstairs, kay?" I nodded, and we ventured into the pub.

Just like in the movies this bar was filled with smoke. There was actually two sides, one non smoking and the other for cigarettes, but the room wasn't big enough for it to matter. It wasn't, however, gloomy or dim. There were plenty of lights to go around, allowing Alucard the opportunity of looking at each and every person lounging about. The room actually had quite a few people, more than I expected. It must have been the hot spot in town.

In order to maneuver through the room Alucard and I dropped to only holding hands, and he walked first as we slowly crossed the room. I felt, and saw, eyes on us as we passed through the room. It wasn't just my imagination that the noise level had dropped when we came in. Then after the hushed comments, which Alucard chose not to listen to. We stopped at the bar where five stools sat, and Alucard left me in the middle one. He kissed my cheek and murmured, "I'll be right back." Then he squeezed my hand tight before letting go, and things went dark.

I listened to Alucard leave the room, recognizing his footsteps over many of the others. The buzzing noise resumed a little after Alucard left. The words seemed rushed and curious, but I didn't actually listen. I may just be being a little paranoid from all of the stares I was certain I was getting. I sat, staring strait ahead, staying quiet. No one had asked if I wanted anything, and I hadn't seen anyone behind the counter who I may have wanted to chat with. I was almost sure that things in the room had gone back to normal, leaving me alone, when someone talked to me.

"You're new in town," said a guy's voice. I turned to the right, staring at who had talked, waiting for what he'd say next. "Where you from?"

I gave him my best friendly smile. "Washington."

"Really? What brings you all the way here?" he asked.

Shrugging I began to get uneasy. There was nothing out of the ordinary in the conversation, but still… something was off. "Oh, just getting away from reality, ya know? Needed a break," or so was the generic answer.

"Huh," I felt him lean closer to me, but I didn't move. "Just on vacation?" he asked, his voice getting deeper, more serious. "No business?"

I frowned at him, certain he was frowning back. "What business would I have here?" I said it not so nicely. "No offence to your town, but it's in the middle of no where."

"Keeps the visitors away," the man remarked. I raised an eyebrow.

Turning away from him I took a deep breath, not sure what to say. Being rather certain that looking uneasy here was the appropriate response I didn't worry that he saw it. Normally I only looked awkward at times where I should be relaxed. It made me stand out a little. At least now there was a reason and he wouldn't think anything of it.

"What's your name?" the man asked.

I turned back to him. "Elisabeth. You?"

"Lurio," he said casually.

I froze, making a great impression of a deer in the headlights. I could feel him staring as I sat there, wide eyes hidden by my glasses, but my absolutely still body on display for anyone who looked. I wasn't breathing, and it wasn't phasing me. Maybe no one would notice, but I couldn't for the life of me move.

The man kept talking, asking me a question, then when I didn't answer if I was okay. He said "hello" a few times, then again if I was okay.

By that time I finally got the breath to speak. "Um… sorry… you said Lurio?" My voice was strained. "Odd name."

He was quiet for a moment, no doubt looking at me as if I were crazy. "Yeah," he said finally, leaving me at that.

I turned back to face him and felt him studying me. It was no wonder, I was acting odd enough. Topics changed quickly. "Why're you wearing those glasses?" He questioned, "it's not that bright in here."

I shrugged. "Just like them," was my reply.

He smirked. "Yeah, I'm sure." Sarcasm dripped off his tongue. My eyes narrowed at him while he just grinned back. I got the feeling that he was leaning back on the stool, eyes fixed on my face. "Really, why don't you take them off?" he suggested. I had the odd feeling that he was searching for something.

"I find it easier just to leave them on," I stated curtly, my voice carrying an edge that said "don't push it."

Lurio stared at me for a moment longer. "What's so bad behind those shades? Nothing I can't handle, believe me."

My frown deepened as I sat there thinking. What the heck was his problem? He was pushing something trivial. It wasn't the first time people asked me about my glasses, but most just took the hint and left it alone. Besides, this guy, Lurio… even thinking the name made me pause for a moment. It was so stupid, pointless, really. It's no different then Elisabeth, there were thousands, surely there had to be a few guys named Lurio. So what? It's not like _he_ was anyone important.

I put my thoughts into words. "What's your problem?" I grumbled as I went over how the room looked, who had been sitting where. My hearing narrowed in on conversations to place where people were at the moment. "It's not a big deal, just leave it alone." When I was sure I could walk across the room without a problem I got to my feet, taking a slow step away from the bar.

Lurio grabbed my arm, jerking me back.

Gasping in surprise I turned to him, not sure what to do. I was in a strange bar filled with a lot of people who no doubt knew this fellow, and Alucard wasn't here. He was just human, I couldn't fight him, but it would look cowardly if I shouted for Al. Well, not so cowardly if I just ditched the glasses. Right now, though, I just wanted this guy off of me. While my senses weren't saying anything was up it wasn't hard to see that he was still creepy.

I jerked my arm, using a little of my extra strength to try to pull loose. Lurio held tight, though, squeezing my arm a little. "Come now, no need to play rough," he said softly, laughter under his voice.

I glared at him, disgusted by his amusement. Was he just playing with me? Having fun at my expense? I couldn't help but wonder if he had some friends in a corner chuckling at the poor new chick. Either way I tugged again, trying to pull lose, but to no avail. Really, I didn't want to start a fight or make a scene, but I couldn't just let him do this.

Right when I was about to do something I'd probably regret someone else stepped in. I felt him before I heard him, and while he never actually touched me his presence was clear, right behind me. Lurio's grip loosened when he saw the man.

"Lurio," said the man, his voice deep. He sounded older, but not too old, firm, and a little rough around the edges. Most importantly he sounded authoritive and in command. At his name Lurio let go of me.

"Clayton, how nice of you to join us," said Lurio. There was something close to anger there.

Clayton nodded his head. "I trust you're staying out of trouble." Again he made it a command, a warning. There was no doubt as to who was in charge here.

Lurio nodded back reluctantly. "As always," he said rigidly.

"Maybe we should let this lady get to her room?" I turned to face Clayton as he said this. He was taller than me, I felt his shadow cross my face. He was also use to getting his way. There was no question as to whether or not Lurio would listen to his commands.

However I wasn't about to. "Actually, I'm just waiting for my friend. He'll be back in a moment."

Clayton was silent, pondering this until finally he said, "Of course. Would you like something while you wait?" He gestured to something, I think the drinks behind the counter.

I considered the idea for a moment. Sometimes I could use a drink, but sometimes it didn't work well and I didn't want to be dealing with that right now. So I kindly refused. "No, thanks." There was a moment of uncomfortable silence between the three of us, then I decided to end it. "I think I might just take you up on the offer of heading upstairs though." I smiled a thank you to Clayton, didn't bother with Lurio, than began to walk out of the room again, when I was stopped for the second time.

Even with Clayton's orders Lurio had grabbed me. I felt something between anger and annoyance come from Clayton as he reached for Lurio who's hand had yanked me back. I had stumbled back a step before tripping over a stool. Getting my footing back I waited for while the two men tried to figure things out.

"Lurio," Clayton said again. His voice was soft, empty, emotionless; a very dangerous cold tone that one didn't try to get in the way of.

Growling his frustration Lurio tightened his hold on my arm. It wasn't squeezing, or painful, but very firm and still considerably threatening. "We're just playing," Lurio said, his voice somewhere between annoyed and defensive.

I laughed nervously. "Yeah, fun game. Can we end it now?"

Another hand touched my arm, Clayton's I presume. I could feel the two men glaring at each other, a battle of wills taken place over my head. Clayton's hand wrapped around Lurio's, and very slowly both pulled away. For appearances sake I took a deep breath. I could sense Lurio's furry, but Clayton was quiet, unmoved.

"Now, if we could—" Clayton was cut off before he finished.

Without any warnings Lurio charged. He shoved past me, or shoved through me, as if he no longer remembered I was there. In doing so he 'accidentally' back handed me. I say accidentally because I seriously doubt I was on his mind. However the subconscious can play tricks and perhaps some part of him remembered me, and my defiance, so it may have been on purpose. In either case the force of the blow knocked me back, away from the counter, and into a table somewhere behind it. I didn't fall on the table, but rather into it, and unlike in the movies the table didn't break, it just slid a little while glasses were knocked to the floor and people cursed. My hand rushed to my cheek, feeling the sting of his blow on it. And all the while I couldn't breathe.

Normally it's no big deal when I get thrown into things. I get up and keep running. Then again, sometimes things are different, sometimes I'm almost normal. Sometimes breathing tends to be important and getting the wind knocked out of me from a rather large, sturdy table actually leaves a dent. So in these next few minutes I can honestly say that I had no idea what was going on with the two men who seemed to have quarrels with each other outside of the strange girl and her now missing sunglasses. At the moment I was trying, unsuccessfully, to breathe.

The noise was a growing hum, and I felt bodies around me. Someone shouted "break it up!" and I could feel people trying to pull the two men apart. What was happening? No idea. Not enough oxygen was going to my lungs for me to focus on the fight, and the nice people in the tavern weren't paying much attention to the injured. Amid much shouting the fight stopped. I heard Lurio's voice screaming threats and curses. No sound came from Clayton, but for some reason I didn't expect any. In either case I think he won the fight. Don't ask me how or why, but I'd bet everything on it. More importantly, after the brawl ended it came clear to everyone that I was still here, and suddenly hands surrounded me, trying to help.

I kept my eyes squeezed shut as they sat me in a chair. More than one "Are you okay?" was asked. I just shook my head and focused on air moving in and out of my throat. At least the injury would assure them that I was human. Yes, I do have to breathe, even if sometimes my chest seems unnaturally still.

God I hated these episodes.

"Liz!" I hear Alucard shout, and realized it wasn't the first time he'd said it. He pushed his way through the crowd at the same time someone asked me to open my eyes and say something. Alucard shoved the guy who'd been speaking out of the way and grabbed my hands, swiftly checking for what had happened.

I was almost breathing normally.

"Liz," his voice was softer, not so frantic, but still worried.

I managed a weak smile. "I'm okay," I said hoarsely, my lungs hurting. "I just have to breathe, and was having some trouble." A nervous joke to explain what was up with me.

Feeling Al push my mind a little I blinked my eyes open, and saw through his. He stared at my face, and I focused on the people behind me. They were huddling together, talking in hushed voices. Alucard was more interested at the red mark on my face, he touched it gingerly. "Who did that, I wonder?" there was nothing kind in his voice.

"I'm sorry, sir," I heard Clayton's voice from behind Alucard. He held onto my hand as he turned to look. Clayton was tall, taller than Alucard I'm sure, though Alucard was kneeling next to me at the moment. He was dressed casually in a worn sweater and old faded jeans. Both of his sleeves were pushed back to his elbows, showing a veriety of scars along the arms, the most dominant looking to be old claw marks. His dark brown hair was left just long enough that you could see the waves in it, and there was the beginning of a beard, probably from him not shaving for a few days. Cold blue eyes stared down at us, not matching the polite, friendly smile he wore. The eyes weren't looking at Alucard while he talked to him, they were looking at me. "My friend Lurio is drunk, he didn't know what he was doing," Clayton explained, his voice growing quieter as he stared.

Most people don't look at my eyes with such emptiness. Other than that I've seen just about every emotion. Most people aren't sure of how to react when they look into someone's eyes and see nothing but grey. I don't mean just the irises. It's not like how some people have blue or green or brown eyes. I mean everything, the white and the pupils included, as if my entire eyeball had been filled with grey dust that swirled occasionally. Alucard said that it looked like Ash.

They weren't always this way. Once my eyes had been yellow, a greenish yellow, very pretty, I assure you. They were bright and aware of everything. The grey was so very different. My eyes now are dull, lifeless, and if you stared at them long enough the grey in them seemed to shift, to migrate. All of this was heresy, though. I hadn't actually seen them do that. I hadn't seen them at all. I hadn't seen anything for over two years without looking through Alucard's eyes.

It sucks being blind.

It also sucks being the ass who hit a blind chick. I guarantee you the blind chick's boyfriend wasn't going to have any of those bad excuses.

"Lurio?" Alucard asked, his voice thick with anger and something else, something more like disgust. The name meant as much to him as it did to me, and that wasn't a memory easily overlooked. But he moved on quickly enough, having a bigger issue to focus on. "What the hell happened here?" he demanded. I clinched his hand as a warning for him not to push this too far. He glanced back to me for a moment, I looked worried. We both knew it was for a reason.

Alucard ran his spare hand through his hair as he took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He looked at me again, getting to his feet. I stood up with him. Together we looked into my eyes, searching for answers. What should we do now? We can't just do nothing.

We didn't really listen to the ramble made by several good Samaritans who took it upon themselves to explain the mess. According to the crowd Lurio had just had too much to drink, got a little fresh with me, and started a brawl when Clayton had stepped in. No big deal, nothing to worry about. We should just mosey on upstairs and go to bed.

In the end we didn't do anything. Alucard had curbed his anger, though I caught him scanning the crowd time and time again for this Lurio. I think we were both looking for the wrong person, making it hard for us to find the real cooperate.

For the entire explanation Clayton had stayed silent. He had apologized, and that was all he needed to do. His explanation had been simple, those around him had lengthened the story. I don't know how accurate any of it was, but Clayton stood still, hands shoved deep into his pockets as he watched everything unfold.

We just left. We could hear the chatting and rumors spreading as we left the room. Alucard was still surveying the room, and right before we left he caught sight of three people standing in the corner. They were in their late teens or early twenties, each carrying a beer of some sort to help themselves get thoroughly drunk. One in particular stood out, naturally he was standing in the middle. He had bleached blonde hair that was showing brown roots, a narrow face with bright, clear eyes. He was tall and lanky, but was more than skin and bones. I didn't see any fat, however the muscle was there. Not in mass, but enough to explain how he'd been able to slap me into a table. He stared back at Alucard and they studied each other in turn. Lurio took another gulp of beer as we walked out of the tavern and headed for the stairs.

"Doesn't look a thing like him," Alucard murmured.

I nodded agreement. "No, he doesn't. But I swear, he acted just like my brother."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After two days I was still acting human, so much so that at about noon I was walking downstairs, alone, in search of food. This of course would be normal if I didn't normally sleep during the day. Noon might be what most consider about three in the morning. It was much too early to be walking around.

Yet here I was, gripping the rail as if my life depended on it while I took my time walking down the stairs. Mel, the nice old lady who owned the hotel, wasn't at her desk. If she was she would have rushed to help me. Ever since Lurio got a little pushy everyone's been acting very polite. Of course, they may have been polite anyway, but I get the feeling that it's all just to make up for their buddy being such an ass.

About half way down the stairs I heard the bell above the door chime. My face turned towards it and I stood still, listening to a small group of people shove their way inside. I blinked a few times behind my glasses as I waited. It was awkward just standing there, however. I always felt stupid stumbling around by myself. It took me a few weeks to get used to a place. Even then I preferred to have Alucard around.

"Hey, who's the misses?" said a male voice. It sounded youngish, late teens or early twenties. Following his comment was a sudden drop in volume complemented by the feeling of staring eyes. I smiled nervously as I clutched the rail, and then slowly began down the stairs again.

In the meantime a voice continued. "Hey darling, you're new around here," said someone in a southern drawl.

I nodded, plastering on a smile. "Yep, just staying for a few days," I replied, trying to keep this conversation short.

"How's Brunsee treating you?" It was back to the first voice.

I shrugged half heartedly, counting the steps in hopes that they'd soon end. "I've been to worse places."

Someone laughed. "Yeah, haven't we all," said the southern. I heard the shuffle of a few bags. "But it's always nice to have a safe place to go when you need to."

I had the feeling that my fake smile was dying so I abandoned it. Sometime I don't really want to talk to people. Like right now. I just wanted to get some food, not to make small chat with a couple of strangers. "Well," I said, "I suppose that's true. Don't know if this would be my little spot, but no one's tried to kill me yet."

There was more laughter, I counted three different people. "No kidding," someone new, a girl. "I remember this one time when—"

She was cut off by the Mel who suddenly hurried out of the bar area, right in front of me. "Oh, Jude! You're here! I was worried you couldn't make it this month," Mel said, then paused for a moment as I once again felt stares. With a sigh of relief I realized that I had reached the bottom of the steps, and didn't care who paid attention. I just smiled politely. "Hello Beth, I didn't realize you're awake. Is there anything I could get you?" Her voice was patronizingly sweet. My smile disappeared once again.

"I'm actually just looking for some food. Kinda hungry," I murmured.

Last time we'd talked she'd fidgeted a lot while biting her lips whenever she wasn't talking. She seemed to be a bit nervous for some reason. I tried to ignore it, but her voice held that same tone as she talked. "Well if you go on in I'll be right with you. Sam's in the back starting up the stove for supper time. Will you need any help?"

I tried to spare her a reassuring glance. "Actually, I think I can handle finding a chair. Thanks." With that I took my leave, looking forward to some of Sam's cooking. He was Mel's son, and surprisingly skinny for a guy who didn't know how to cook anything that wasn't dripping with grease. I don't get fat. Not sure how the needing food thing works, but my body had no trouble eating pure chocolate for that time. It didn't change my performance one bit. There are advantages to not being normal.

I used my hands to navigate my way into the bar. Inside I paused a moment, reorienting things as I tried to place all the tables in my head. There were only a few people in the room, all of which paid me no attention. I found a seat near a door and waited for Mel to finish greeting her guests.

There had been quite a few guests lately. Over the two days we had been here the parking lot had begun to fill. That first night there had been hardly anyone, now almost all the rooms were full. It struck me as odd for a town that didn't act as if it liked outsiders, and didn't seem large enough to host them. Alucard had mentioned that he was keeping tabs on everyone who showed up. Supposedly everyone seemed to know each other. I figured there might be a big gathering going on. If that was the case we might get a chance to check out the teenage girl scenario if we just so happened to slip in.

So far we hadn't had any luck. The sun began to set around five, so we got out in time to look around. Their was enough trees around that as long as we walked carefully we could make our way around town without having to worry about Alucard bursting into flames. We'd seen kids, but not many younger than junior high level, and no one that stood out. But that didn't mean we weren't look right at the slayer. Sometimes it is just hard to tell. Alucard and I planned to wait a little bit before asking questions. We were going to let everyone become accustomed to us a little, and then inquire about small things, maybe comment on someone we saw. We'd do just enough to get people talking. For now we just had to be polite, quiet and unobtrusive.

Mel had perfect timing. She walked back in as my stomach growled and she immediately saw to me. "Sorry about the wait, dear. What can I get you?" I took a moment to think about it while Mel poured me a cup of coffee before I placed an order. When I had finished she walked off. The sound of her footsteps faded into the casual chatter of other customers. I took a sip of the coffee as I let my mind wonder.

"Elisabeth, isn't it?" The voice took me by surprise. Most people couldn't sneak up on me, even when I wasn't all here. I recognized the voice, however, and I figured if it had to be someone it might as well be him.

I took a deep breath before facing him. "And you would be Clayton," I responded.

He didn't say anything for a moment, but I heard him help himself to a chair and sit down. We sat together in silence for a long moment. I felt him staring and my fingers started to fidget with a bit of string that had begun to unravel from my shirt. I made a mental note to cut it off later at about the same time Clayton broke the silence. "I haven't been able to check up on you, but I hear you've recovered well."

Clayton didn't strike me as the type who would appreciate one of my strained smiles so I didn't bother with it. "Yes, I'm fine. Honestly though, I thought it was more serious at first, but the table hardly left a mark." I kept my voice pleasant. He was silent again for a time, making me wonder why he actually sat down with me. "Can I help you with something?" I asked.

Another pause before he spoke. "No, I don't think so." I waited for him to add something but it never came.

"You're entirely too quiet. Has anyone ever told you that?" I asked.

He smirked, and a feeling of stiffness that had been hanging about him seemed to lift up and away. "Yes, actually," he answered.

"Glad to see you've worked on fixing that," I murmured dryly.

He didn't respond, but the next pause wasn't as uncomfortable. It lasted until Mel came back. She exchanged a polite greeting with Clayton and delivered my meal. With the food came a good excuse not to talk. I was no longer searching for things to say, I was eating. And I wasn't playing with my food to kill time, I was simply blind and being careful. There's nothing like a good excuse when you need one.

Clayton sat quietly watching me eat for several minutes until he finally asked, "Where's your friend?"

I quickly swallowed what was in my mouth. "Al? He's just in our room," I explained.

"Hmm," Clayton murmured. "You two don't get out much."

I shrugged. "Sure we do, just not normally until a little later in the day. We like to sleep in."

"Why's that?" Clayton asked.

I purposely took a bite of food just then. I knew the standard answer to the question, and I would use it, but something seemed odd about Clayton. It was like he was searching for something. When I'd finished chewing I quickly explained, "Al used to have a night job. We're just sort of used to following a different clock. He should be up around four. We were hoping to go for a walk or something around town."

"Hmm," Clayton murmured again. "Well, there's not much to see." He then took a second to think. "About when were you planning to go out?" he asked.

This time I had to think. We hadn't really talked about it, we were just going to go whenever. But if we were going to try to look for a few kids sooner might be good. However we couldn't go too soon, with the sun and all. In the end I just shrugged. "Not sure, just whenever."

"I see," he said. "Well, it's supposed to be cold tonight. I would be inside before it gets late."

"Oh, the cold won't bother us much," I answered as I quickly went back to my food. My body was beginning to remember that it was hungry.

"All the same," Clayton added, "it'll get dark soon, and you won't be able to see much of anything. If you want I could show you around tomorrow, when the sun's out."

I considered the idea. It would be nice to have someone show us around. Clayton was right about there not being much to see, but he might introduce us to people. That could be really useful at times. The problem was that Alucard wouldn't be able to go. He couldn't be outside in the sunlight, and around town most likely meant outside. There was a chance that I may be able to go by myself, but that was a strict maybe.

"I'll talk to Al about it," I told Clayton. "Thanks for offering."

"It's not a problem," Clayton replied softly, his voice barely above a whisper. I lifted my head as if to look up at him, frowning a little. He had intended to add something to that, I knew it, but now he wasn't saying anything. My body wanted to fidget as I tried to figure out what had distracted him, but I held myself still.

"Clay, how nice to see you again," said someone I didn't know. My head turned to where she stood and I had one of those instant I-don't-like-this-person feelings. Shifting my shoulders uncomfortably as I sat back in my chair, waiting to see what was going on before actually doing something to draw attention. I think I was noticed, anyway.Her voice was inquisitive and somewhat arrogant as she continued. "There are new faces in town."

"Would you have us turn them away?" Clayton asked softly.

The lady laughed, a sound that was light and untroubled, a blatant lie. "Oh no, we turn no one away." It could have been just me but I felt the comment was directed at someone.

"Exactly," Clayton responded. There was a commanding coolness to his voice that made the lady scowl.

"You know you can't keep doing this," she growled, her voice dropping lower. "Every mut you take into this town is just another problem we have to deal with."

There was a silent breath throughout the bar and I knew I wasn't the only one listening very hard to what was being said. I didn't hear a sound until Clayton said, "You agreed with the decision," he said flatly.

Silent rage flowed from the woman. "Don't even think you can-"

Clayton sighed deeply, the sound alone interupting here.Without his normal break in conversation he actually sounded a little rushed in what he said next. "Vanessa, this really isn't the time for this. I'm sure you can find better things to do with then start petty arguments in public. Perhaps you could even assist Catherine. She's just arrived, and she brought a friend."

There was the shortest of breaks before something close to a growl came from Vanessa. "Damn it," she cursed, angry at someone, I wasn't sure who. She growled again, and I felt her eyes sweep over me before turning to Clayton. "Don't think we're done with this. We're not okay with them being here, and it's going to be on your head." I heard her chair skid back and slam into the one behind it before she all but ran out of the room. It was uncannily silent after she left.

You see, there are some conversations that we're not meant to understand. Honestly, they'll make not a lick of sense, no matter how many times you analyze them and look for hidden meanings. Now that doesn't mean you don't pick up on a few things. Oh no, not at all. For instance I had a strong feeling that this Vanessa didn't like me. I also had this voice in my head telling me she could kick my ass, human or not. Then of course there was that bit about the fact that we were having many, many guests suddenly showing up and they all seemed to know each other, and if I wasn't mistaking Alucard and I weren't invited. So many questions swam through my head, but I reluctantly squashed them down. This wasn't the time or the place.

No one was talking, and I heard little movement. However it wasn't my fault this time, very little attention was on me at all. Stealthily I continued eating, moving slowly and without pause while I tried to look natural. All the while Clayton sat silent, contemplating. The room was waiting for him to speak.

"Forgive me," he began, addressing me, "but it seems I have many things to do before tonight. Perhaps I will see you tomorrow."

I nodded to that, certain now that I could use that tour he had offered. Wandering around this town alone was beginning to seem dangerous. "I look forward to it," I replied, and even managed to keep my voice sounding normal. Go me.

There was a shuffling of sounds, a patter of hurried whispers, and a seat pulled back to allow Clayton to leave the table and stride steadily out of the room. The volume didn't rise for another thirty seconds or so once he was gone, however. As if everything thought he would still have been able to hear them.

No one else bothered me as I finished my meal. Leaving my plate on the table I left the bar, carefully navigating my way back up the stairs and into my room. I shut the door behind me and took a moment to lean against it to catch my breath. Without meaning to I had held my breath as much as possible to remain as quiet as possible. Sometimes it was such a hazard to remember to breath.

When I was settled I turned around to face the room. Every piece of furniture was ground into my memory. I had studied this place carefully and we never did move much after we had settled in. I stayed at the door for a moment longer, content to just not move.

Alucard moved in bed and I realized that he wasn't sleeping anymore. Al pushed himself up so that he could sit against the headboard as I decided it was time I actually walked into the room. Kicking off my shoes I crawled onto the bed to sit next to him. I snuggled close and he wrapped an arm around me.

"What'd you get up for?" he asked as he ran a hand threw my hair.

Sighing I forced myself to relax before answering. "Got hungry," I muttered.

Al's head leaned against mine as he nodded. "You do that sometime," he said. "How'd lunch go?"

"Meh," I muttered. "Chatted with Clayton. He's an odd fellow, kind of quiet and very thoughtful. He likes to brood a lot."

Alucard played with my fingers as he thought about that. "What did he say?" his voice had gotten a bit serious.

What had he said? "He asked a lot of questions."

"What sort?" Now I knew Alucard's mind was elsewhere. He didn't trust this town, or Clayton for that matter.

Nuzzling closer I replied, "The casual sort. Nothing abnormal or suspicious."

"Ah," Alucard drew out the syllable. "So he's obviously the suspicious type."

"Yeah, well, no one's good enough for you."

He rubbed a hand over my shoulder. "Not many, no."

My hand touched his as I thought for a moment. "There was someone else, too, another new arrival. She…"

"She?"

I wasn't quite sure how to put it. "She didn't like Clayton, I'd almost bet she was trying to challenge him or something."

Alucard leaned back a little, consequently pulling away from me a bit. "That's unusual."

Nodding I continued. "They bickered a lot, I think it had to do with us."

"Us?" Alucard pondered this. "Where do we fit into all of this?" he wondered. I had no answer.

Settling against me Alucard stopped asking questions. I nuzzled against him and he abesent mindedly snuggled closer. With a sigh I relized his mind was busy working out what was going on in town. It left me with time to sleep.

* * *

Eck, sorry it took so long. I figured there weren't that many people waiting for it anyway, with the lacking reviews and such. (no that doesn't mean you have to review to get me to post more. I just got side tracked with life.) Anywho, I'm working on the next chapter, mostly it needs some tweaking, and to be finished, and to get my lap top hooked up online so I can get the chapter up. That should be in a week or two, depending.

Thanks for reading if you did!

Rave


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I had actually waited around to see Clayton yesterday. I woke up early and everything. Alucard and I had gone downstairs together around noon and sat in the bar, away from the windows. Not many people were there, just a quiet pair of older men near the front who looked half asleep as they worked themselves into a thoroughly drunk state. Mel was yawning herself as she served us.

We had stayed in the bar until around five, being completely honest about why. When Mel inquired I mentioned that we were hoping to run into Clayton. With a quick nod and a small smile she had mentioned that it was probably a good idea before moving on with her work.

After several hours of playing solitaire Alucard decided that it wasn't worth waiting for. With the sun setting I had to agree. If Clay did show it would be too late for the tour he promised. So we got up and left, heading outside to go for a walk.

It was cold outside, to be sure, but neither Alucard nor I were affected by it. The sun was almost set, but most of the light was hidden by the surrounding trees so that Alucard was in no danger. We were still careful and stuck to deeper shadows as we strolled down the main road.

Taking our time, we walked the street, making sure to look over the school as we passed it. There wasn't anyone there at the moment, but I might be able to visit it a little earlier in the day when children were still around.

In the end we had circled around town, back to the Inn which was growing increasingly crowded. After not seeing a friendly face in the crowd we decided that for the second night we would retire to our room early in the evening.

Today had been down right boring. It was our fifth day in town and we knew almost nothing. No one wanted to talk to us, and while they were all politely helpful and accommodating no one provided us with anything we could use. With the exception of Mel I wasn't recognizing anyone who wondered through the inn, and only once had I dared to step outside by myself. After making it to our car and back I was completely content to wait around next time for Alucard's assistance.

Even though we had woken up early yesterday, and went to bed early because of it, today we slept in late. We normally woke up around three, and as if in response to us breaking that rule the day before we didn't get up until almost four. This came in handy, because the sun was setting just before five. We took our time getting ready to go out for the night. Both of us had had enough of this hotel, we needed to do something.

I was almost finished getting ready when Alucard walked out of the bathroom. "We need to ask for more soap," he said as he began to shuffle through drawers.

"Uh-huh," I murmured as I finished tying my shoe and switched feet.

"And probably shampoo," he murmured, more to himself. We both knew he would take care of that. Finishing with the drawer he was in, he shut it and started on the next. "You should wear a sweatshirt, too," he added.

With the shoe tied I stood up strait and stretched before answering. "Why? I feel just fine how I am."

Alucard shut the drawer and began getting dressed. "Well, as much as I like to see you scantily dressed, the people downstairs might consider it odd for a girl to wear a T-shirt in forty degree whether."

Grinning I shrugged. The reason I had to go out to the car today was to grab extra clothes. We only could carry so much with us while we traveled, and we had only bothered to bring so much inside with us. In the car I had grabbed the first outfit I could, leaving me with a pair of low-cut jeans and a very small, short, clingy T-shirt that ended well above where the pants began. While it's not quite "scantily dressed" I suppose it would leave a normal person cold in this weather.

"Let me borrow something, then," I said. "And tomorrow we're doing laundry."

Alucard laughed and threw something at me. I caught it, barely, and was tempted to throw it back at him. Instead I slipped into the baggy, oversized shirt, rolling the sleeves up a bit afterwards so that they didn't end inches past my hands, and so that they wouldn't get in the way of anything in case something came up to make me need my hands. In fact, the shirt created the perfect spot for hiding the long, thin piece of wood I ended up sliding up my sleeve. Alucard had given me two identical wooden daggers last year for Christmas, along with wrist sheathes to go with them. A must have on any Slayer's wish list.

"Not sure we'll really need weapons out here," I said. "If there were vampires around I'm sure someone would have realized it. There are just not that many people for one disappearing to go unnoticed."

"I'm not really worried about vampires," Alucard said as he slid into a light jacket, "but every town has its monsters, and I have a feeling that this one's trying very hard to hide theirs."

I paused a moment to think on that. "Just because they're not friendly doesn't mean they're hiding something."

I heard Alucard open his suitcase and knew that he was picking out some weapon of his own. Even if we were certain there wasn't any boogie man out there we'd go armed. "That's the thing," he said, "they seem to be very friendly. Everyone else who's shown up is greeted as old palls. We're singled out, though, pushed away from the pack and shunned. What are they pushing us away from?" He closed his suitcase and turned to me, his question already fading away to be forgotten or ignored. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," I said, growing uneasy as I thought over what Alucard had been touching on. This wouldn't be the first time we had stepped unknowingly into the middle of some effort to hide a creature or enchantment from the common view.

He smiled reassuringly and walked to me to take my hand. I blinked and opened my eyes to see my face. It was always an uncanny feeling. "Hey, don't worry. I won't let the bad guys get you."

Blinking again I turned away and let his sight go out of focus. "Like I'd need your help," I jested

He grinned. "You know you do. Who else would slay all those demons when you don't have a slayer buddy around?"

"Well, after they've killed you I might have a go at it."

He feigned heart ache, "Ach! You'd let them slaughter me?"

I just shook my head and headed for the door, pulling him along behind me. Laughing he caught up just as we left the room, wrapping an arm around me to pull me close. He was about to say something when another door opened. We both turned to the sound and I let Alucard's eyes come back to me. A tall man walked out into the chilly hallway. He was dressed in slacks and a brown dress shirt and wore his graying blonde hair long and tied back. Immediately he noticed us, and took the chance to look us over for a moment, sizing us up, before giving us a friendly smile. "Hey darling, it's been awhile. Who's your friend?"

I didn't immediately recognize the voice, it took me a second or two to remember the southern drawl that had greeted me on the stairs. "Oh, hello," I said at last, "This is Al." Alucard nodded politely, his smooth smile being more authentic then mine. "I didn't catch your name."

"Friends call me Charley, nice to meet you," he offered out his hand. Alucard loosened his hold on me to accept it for the both of us. With Alucard I met Charley's eyes, and they looked just as keen and calculating as Alucard's ever had. He didn't trust us, either. When they'd finished sizing each other up, we just kind of all moved towards the stairs. As if to avoid an uncomfortable silence, Charley threw out a question in what I soon realized was his own amiable, carefree way, "How do you like Brunsee so far?"

I let myself smile softly so that I looked a little young and innocent. "Well, the folks around here seem quiet," I said.

Alucard nodded as he pulled me a little closer. "But it's been really nice, peaceful even. Unfortunately we haven't had the chance to see much outside of the hotel, and boy, are my legs growing stiff." He'd dropped back into his friendly-neighborhood-kid jargon.

Charley glanced over at us quickly. "Is that so?" He thought a moment, "Tomorrow we're throwing a big bash, you should come. It's always a lot of fun, kind of a winding down thing."

"Winding down from what?" I asked, all innocent curiosity.

Charley shrugged as he took a moment for serious thought. "From… life. Sometimes things just get to be too much so we throw a big bash and drink ourselves under the table." We had reached the stairs and started down.

I raised an eyebrow to him. "Just an excuse to get drunk?"

"For some of us," he answered merrily, the seriousness of his last comment disappeared as he flashed a grin at us. "Never no when you can use a good party." We got to the bottom of the stairs and he stopped for a moment. "So where are you two headed?"

"Just going out for a bit," Alucard answered. "We've been cooped up in here so long that it'll be nice to stretch our legs."

Charley seemed to lose some of his lightheartedness when he said, "Is that so? Huh." He paused to think on the idea. "Sounds like a swell idea. About how long would you be out?"

"Didn't think about it," I murmured as I wondered when was the last time I had heard someone actually use swell in a sentence. Returning to the question I turned my head to face Al to see if he had an estimate. Alucard didn't add onto my comment, he just maintained his easy smile and didn't break eye contact with Charley.

Charley took my answer in stride, not sparing a pause for it before he nodded and gave us one last smile. "Well, have a good time, don't do anything I wouldn't," he winked at Al in one of those ways. You know the way. "I'm gonna go meet some friends, you kids have fun now!" and with a parting wave he walked off towards the bar. Alucard waved goodbye, but Charley didn't turn round to see it.

Alucard watched him go for a moment. "He seems nice enough," he murmured to me. I nodded an agreement. He seemed genuinely friendly. It was odd after being all but shunned by everyone else in the inn. But without further comments I turned with Alucard towards the door. Out of the corner of his eyes I saw someone.

Alucard looked at the boy as if just noticing him. It was a surprise to me, however, and I dutifully looked confused when he paused to examine the kid. He was in his mid teens, kind of lanky, as if he'd started his growth spurt and hadn't quite caught up with himself yet. I didn't recognize him from anywhere but he was staring at us as if he knew who we were. He probably did, everybody else seemed to. However the oddest thing about him, I realized, was that he was the youngest person I'd seen in this town. That made sense, though, because this place was mainly the bar. It was just an unpleasant reminder of how little progress we'd made.

"Good evening," Alucard said cheerfully. The boy didn't answer, he just continued to stare, his face completely blank. Alucard only waited a second longer before shrugging and continuing on outside.

Outside the sun had set, leaving the buildings to be lit by houselights and a single lamp post. There wasn't any moonlight yet, but that could be because the sun wasn't as far down as we thought, or the moon just hadn't made its way over the trees yet. After walking down the porch's stairs I pulled away from Alucard a moment to stretch my arms. Something about being outside made it feel like there was simply more room around me. After the days spent inside I had begun to feel not just a little cramped.

Alucard looked around while I swung my arms back and forth, just to feel them move. "I don't know where to go," he admitted. "I know there's a side street at the end of the road we came from, and I saw a few paths yesterday as we walked around."

"The side road probably goes to houses," I pointed out. "There aren't many around here."

"That's what I was thinking," he said. "But there are a lot of woods around here, and several paths leading into it. Care to explore one?"

I didn't even have to think about it. "Sounds like fun. Let's go for a hike."

"You sound exited," he said, walking back over to me to take up my hand again.

Shrugging I replied. "I'm fond of the outdoors."

"Really? You've always seemed to be a big city person to me. More of the buildings, cars and shopping malls type of gal," Alucard stated.

"Yeah," I admitted, "But I'm like a chameleon, I mold to the surroundings."

With silent acceptance Al pulled me forward. He led the way to a worn path not far from the hotel. Without much talking we started down it. Alucard led the way, with me right behind him. He spent most of his time watching the ground to make sure I'd know when any twists, rocks or roots came up that I might want to be aware of.

"I'm not going to trip," I said with a sigh.

Alucard glanced over his shoulder at me, "I know."

"Then don't worry so much," I suggested.

He smiled back at me. "If you say so." Without warning he let go of my hand. I stumbled a little in surprise, but continued forward with determination. "Now keep up!" my eyes blinked as I heard his steps gain speed.

"Oh, that's cheating," I shouted after him.

His laughter came back to me. "I know you can run, Liz, I've seen you do it. And I know you want to run now. So do it. Keep up with me." He'd stopped moving not too far down the path.

I frowned at him. "I won't trip walking, but running's unpredictable."

"So is the middle of Los Angeles, but that didn't stop you then," he pointed out. "Liz, I know you can do this, and I know that the point of going out in the woods isn't to worry about tripping. If you really want to have some fun then why are you arguing?"

Hesitantly I took a step forward. Running around here would be stupid, I knew that, but he was right. It would be fun, and it would prove that he didn't need to baby me all the time. But hadn't I nearly fallen on my face walking to the car this morning? Nibbling my lip I continued to walk forward, considering the idea. Alucard hadn't moved from where he had stopped, he was silently waiting. Normally I only ran under pressure, enormous pressure; that was when my instincts were at their top. Would it work so well here? I wasn't too far from Alucard when I made up my mind. If for no other reason then to find out if I could, I dashed forward, running fast for Al, he jumped away quickly, avoiding my lunge, and took off down the path.

"Smart, but you won't catch me that easily," he yelled over his shoulder.

I grinned up at him. "But I will catch you!"

We raced through the woods, but not at top speed. Even when sticking to the path I had to occasionally duck or dodge unseen objects without even knowing what they were. I didn't have to know, though. My body moved without a thought to guide it, naturally speeding down the path with its own grace. Once or twice I jumped over something, or nearly twisted an ankle off a jutting root. But every footfall proved that I could handle the rough terrain. It really wasn't too difficult. I followed the sound of Alucard's footfalls, trying to shut out the image of him in my mind. I could have easily tracked him by that, but I didn't really want to. It felt so good just to run, to move, to be doing something. All the wasted energy of the last few days seemed to spill out of me as I rushed down the path. My breathing came smoothly no matter how hard I pushed myself, and I appreciated every ounce of slayer strength that let the human part of me do so much.

I wasn't sure how much later it was that Alucard began to slow down. The path had grown thicker and I had found myself dodging more bushes and branches. Now when Alucard was slowing to a stop, or at least to a slow walk, I finally caught up to him. Still running a little when I reached him I grabbed him by the shoulder and used him as both a stopper and a resting post as my body finally began to breathe hard.

"That was exhilarating," I gasped.

"Mmm-hmm," he agreed with a sort of groan. "Glad you enjoyed it."

"What, are you tired?" I asked.

He rolled his shoulders a little and stretched out his arms. "No, just needing to stretch a little."

"You're kinda supposed to stretch before you run. Does that matter with vampires?" I asked.

"No idea," Alucard answered. "Never really bugged me. I just haven't done that much in awhile."

I moved off of his shoulder as he stretched, wrapping myself around in front of him and wresting my arms around his neck. I walked backwards while he moved forward. "Come now, with all that mystical strength of yours you should be just as fine as me."

He smirked as his arms ended their stretching wrapped around me. "Slayers are made to be stronger than vampires, remember?"

"That's all hype," I said, "we're about the same. But vampires are kind of stupid, so we have the upper hand."

"Stupid?" he asked. I shrugged a response. He shook his head with a smirk before moving one of his hands to the back of my head as he leaned in to kiss me. I relaxed into him, my body molding itself to his, enjoying the moment. Pulling back from me he murmured, "Would you call me stupid when I have I have a slayer trapped so snuggly in my arms?"

"Nah, you're doing pretty good."

Grinning, he kissed me again, deeper and longer this time. Upon pulling back he surprised me, though. He pulled me with him as he took a step back, and then began to sit down. I moved with him and he guided me down beside him until I rested with me back against a tree. "Look," he murmured. I let myself fade back against him and found myself staring up at an almost full moon which had its reflection shining back up at us from the lake lying not twenty feet off. Alucard's eyes were made for the night, and picked up so many little details out of the darkness that would have been hidden from a human. Add into that the large amount of stars that were visible in a place like this that wasn't as close to a large city as I ever was, and the site was spectacular.

"Wow," was the first thing I managed to say.

"I thought you'd like it."

Snuggling into him I rested my head on his chest. "It's beautiful."

He looked down at me, "This really isn't a bad place to live," he confessed.

"It's too far from a mall," I mentioned. Alucard didn't spoil the moment by getting into a petty argument. Instead he ran a hand through my hair, still looking at me. "I thought we were looking at the moon," I murmured.

"We were," he agreed, still not looking back up.

Blinking off his eyes I lifted my head up to him. A hand slid under my chin and he guided my face to his. The kiss was soft, and we didn't pull away this time. One kiss led into a deeper one as his tongue slid into my mouth. Gradually I moved in closer to him until I sat on his lap, my hand on his chest and his slowly moving up my waste. He kissed my chin, then my neck. I tilted my head, letting him kiss it knowing that he wouldn't bite me.

My hands moved to his shoulders, pulling on his jacket. Alucard shrugged it off with my help and I threw it aside. He pulled back from me for a moment so I could slide my hands under his shirt then pulled it off over his head. My hands settled on his shoulders as I leaned down for a series of kisses. Before I knew it his hands were back under my shirt and he was taking his time exploring my body.

I had just gotten to the point where I was considering working on his pants when he stopped moving. Not just his mouth and hands, but his entire body seemed to freeze in place.

"Al?" I asked, pulling away from his body.

He shook his head to signal me to be quiet. Slowly his hands guided me off of his lap until I was once again sitting on the ground next to him. "Did you hear that?" he asked, his voice barely loud enough for me to hear him speak.

I forced myself to listen hard. My ears were very, very good at their job, but they weren't as good as Alucard's. I didn't hear anything above the wind in the trees. With a look back at Alucard I told him I didn't know what he was talking about.

I could sense his frustration. There had been something, he knew it. It hadn't been soft, either, he wouldn't have noticed something quiet while being quite so distracted. As he got to his feet Alucard looked around the area. I stayed out of his way as he scanned the forest behind us. We were right at its edge.

"It could have been anything," I said, "maybe something small."

His frown deepened. "I know," he said, but he didn't sound convinced. Alucard trusted his instincts almost as much as I trusted mine. You don't get to be a vampire over a thousand without developing an understanding with yourself about how to know when danger's near. He stood for several more minutes, using every sense he had to scan our surroundings. In the end he sighed. "Maybe it was nothing." He didn't sound sure.

I adjusted myself so that I was up against the tree again, sitting cross legged. "Well, this mysterious nothing sure did ruin the atmosphere."

Chuckling, Al nodded. He rubbed his face, as if trying to wake himself up. Taking himself forward he joined me against the tree. The fact that he wasn't sitting told me that he wasn't comfortable where we were. "That's true enough," he agreed. "But it happens for a reason."

"What's that?"

"You know, in all those horror movies, when the couple hears something, one person always says 'it's nothing.' Then they continue to make out, and something jumps out and attacks," Alucard explained.

I rolled my eyes behind glasses, not caring that he couldn't see it. "Life isn't a movie," I pointed out.

He smiled down at me, ruffling my hair. I swatted his hand away playfully. "Maybe we should head back to the hotel?" he suggested.

I wrinkled my nose, but accepted his hand when he offered it to climb to my feet. "Well, we do have a room," I mentioned halfheartedly.

Laughing, Alucard pulled me into a hug. "That disappointed?" he asked. "It's quite a compliment."

I pushed him away while he chuckled, then knelt down to find his shirt. "I wonder if there's a long way back. It's too early to go to bed." I found his shirt and handed it off to him.

He kissed me thanks before slipping it on. "It's not like we'd be sleeping," he pointed out.

"That's right, you're just afraid of the woods," I teased.

"I'm afraid that all the nice woodland creatures will make noises all night to keep me on edge," he explained. "For all I know I heard a squirrel, but that squirrel may be louder than some monster roaming around looking for dinner."

"Let's hope it feeds on the squirrel and leaves us to enjoy ourselves." I came up to him, hugging him around the waist.

He hugged me back. "You'd be tasty than the squirrel, the monster would get tempted."

With a sigh I pulled back, tugging him in the direction of the path. "No flirting if we're not allowed to stay out. In fact you've made me sad now. I was just starting to have fun and now I have to go back inside." Alucard fell into step beside me as I continued to pull him towards the woods. I couldn't blame him for playing it safe, we had been attacked when it wasn't expected before, but a little fun would have been nice for the night. I really didn't want to go back to the hotel.

I blinked back into Alucard's sight, relaxing against him as we walked back to the hotel. The trip took back from the lake took much longer than getting there, but we enjoyed it in silence. I think one of the reasons we let it take so long was so that we wouldn't reach our destination too soon.

We saw the light from the town before the buildings came into view. The town was silent when we returned to it. All of the houses had their lights turned off, leaving the town to be lighted by the lonely street light. But with the moon and stars helping there was no problem seeing anything around us.

"Must be late," I whispered, not wanting to disturb the town's silence.

Alucard nodded, "We should be getting back inside. If you're hungry maybe we could stop and see if someone's around to cook up some food."

"Doesn't sound like anyone's around," I pointed out, listening hard towards the inn. All I heard was some crackling from the woods, but no people inside. "Must be later than I thought. How long were we out?"

He pulled me close for a moment, whispering in my ear. "Not long enough." I smiled against him, leaning in for a kiss. He held me back before our lips could touch. Before I could ask what was wrong Alucard was suddenly gone.

I felt him move, my mind following him as he brushed past me to stand behind me before I could blink. I was just beginning to turn to face him again when Al moved once more. He jumped forward and to the left and I heard him hit… something. It was probably the same something that growled at him, deep and threatening. I took a step as what sounded like a big dog growled again. There was some struggling, some moving about, a lot of threatening noises and tussling, and the entire time I really had no idea what was going on, or even what we were facing. I just continued to back up step by step, trying to get some feel for what had appeared, seemingly out of no where.

All I could sense was Alucard. I knew every step he took, but even when he made contact with his opponent I couldn't sense what it was. Whether it was alive, undead, or otherworldly, I should have been able to see it in my mind. Sometimes it took a while to pinpoint the bad guy, but I always felt danger, and if I touched it I most certainty had it targeted. Right now all of my senses told me I was safe. They told me nothing else was around, no one but me or Alucard. But I heard something yelping and lunging and moving about. I'm thinking that something was seriously wrong. For some reason my gift was being glitchy. My stomach clinched. If I couldn't fell the bad guy I couldn't fight it. There was no other way for me to tell were something was.

This explained my complete surprise when something slammed into me from behind and I hit the ground hard.

For the second time this week the wind was knocked out of me. It left me lying on the ground with some creature on my back, unable to do anything useful. I struggled anyway, trying to push myself up. Whatever the thing on top of me was thrust me back into the ground so that I couldn't move. Out of ideas I tried to shout for Al, but all that came out was a rasping sound. I gave up and tried to suck in air instead.

To my luck, however, Alucard noticed that I was in trouble. I suppose it was rather obvious, something jumping on me and all. Anyone who wasn't blind would have seen it. But I heard him shout my name as the thing above me growled. I just stayed put, regaining my breath and squeezing my eyes closed as I waited for something, whether good or bad, to happen.

I heard Alucard's footsteps running towards me, then another set—or was it two sets?—running towards him. Alucard was intercepted and knocked to the ground, I heard him struggle with something while he tried to push forward.

Meanwhile, on my side of things, all was still. The creature on top of me wasn't moving. While this was unnerving as hell it meant that it wasn't trying to eat me. I didn't think it could actually kill me, but it wasn't playing by normal rules. Slowly I felt it shift position, and while doing so I realized it was like a dog. It had been laying on me as one big mass, but as it moved there were for distinct legs digging into my back and legs. So what was this, some dog monster? Evil creatures with rabies? Chances were more likely that it was a wolf. What would that make him, a werewolf?

I blinked at that. One of those surprised, nervous, very distinct blinks. This couldn't be a werewolf. I had no interest in dealing with werewolves. Besides, werewolves I could sense, I knew that for a fact having dealt with them in the past. I just didn't like having to face off with them. The idea of killing one… I knew you were really killing a person trapped in the body of a demon. It was a bad thought. Most people couldn't be held responsible for what their demon counterpart does those three nights a year. Most werewolves don't even remember anything. The night time wolf demons are vicious, and some would claim mad.

So of course these couldn't be werewolves. Whatever it was on top of me wasn't being vicious. It was just keeping me put. Or at least I thought that was it. He could just be waiting for his friends to kill Alucard. Then they might start on me. I had a sudden thought. Just how many of these things were there?

I focused very hard for a moment, listening closely. I couldn't feel things in my head but their feet made the same noise as any other. I sensed Alucard about twenty yards away. He was standing at the moment, waiting for something. I heard three sets of feet circling him, plus the one on top of me.

And no one in the town. No one was in the inn; I knew that without a doubt. I doubted we were gone that long but there was none of the normal noises that accompanied the bar. We'd left around five, maybe been gone an hour or two. People wouldn't all be at home and off the street at seven. Unless they knew that the street was dangerous.

"Oh shit," I murmured. Every time we talked to someone over the last few days they'd told us to get in early, for whatever reason. Some said it was cold out, others that there was nothing to do. One way or another we'd been warned to stay inside. "Oh shit," I repeated.

The creature on top of me growled. I felt the muzzle shove against my head, pushing it into the ground for a second. I think that was its way of saying "shut up." I growled back at it and it shoved against my head again. Going against my better judgment I pushed against the thing, using all of my strength to force myself off of the ground. With breath in my lungs I had a much larger amount of strength to call upon and managed to push it off a bit. The thing shoved against me again, pushing me almost completely back to where I started. It laid down on top of me, putting all of its weight on my body to hold me down. I used what room I had created between myself and the ground to elbow the thing hard. I felt my elbow hit ribs.

The creature grunted and backed off a little. I took my chance to climb to my knees, kicking at the creature before jumping to my feet. It dodged the kick, but stayed nearby. I could tell by its breathing.

"Alucard!" I shouted. "What's going on?"

Something was going on with him. I felt him get run into, heard him grunt at something hit him. He was rolling on the ground, then back on his feet, then meeting something in the air and throwing it to the ground. Whatever we were facing it was fast, but Alucard was faster. He had that speed that only came with age in a vampire. Naturally they knew how to fight, but he could do more than simple fighting.

Somewhere in the mess he managed to shout. "The hotel's right behind you. Get inside!"

Obeying I began to back up slowly. "What the hell is going on?"

Something tackled him to the ground from behind. The other two creatures around him began to dart in and nip at him. My shoulder felt a pinch as something bit into him. That was the end of my questions. He didn't need to answer me if he was in danger. I just wished that I could help somehow.

I heard the creature who had been on me follow me step for step. He placed himself between me and Alucard, so even if I wanted to pitch in and do something I'd have to get through it. The thing was stronger than I was, and I had every disadvantage. So I just kept backing up.

Just like this morning I stumbled over the first step and promptly fell on my ass. "Ouch!" I hissed and heard something from the creature. It was like a rush of air, heavy breathing, some sort of laugh. I glowered at it. If the thing could laugh it would understand the look.

Something in my stomach changed the look on my face. There was another stab of very minor pain, and I knew Al was hurt. Everything I felt was a shadow of what he was going through. I forced myself to my feet, standing to face this monster. Just when I was about to do something very stupid and run off to save Alucard from whatever was snacking on him I heard a howl. If it had been in the distance it wouldn't have fazed me, but the bloody thing wasn't ten yards away. It sounded like it was coming from the inn's porch, or somewhere in the inn, or somewhere really close to it. God, I didn't know where it was coming from. But it meant at least five creatures to face.

The beast in front of me growled again, but he had moved to face the cause of the howl. I heard a growl reply, and then another, and another. That meant seven. Seven things. Not all of which got along. My eyes widened in something close to shock. How many were there?

Another stab of pain hit my stomach, this one sharper. From here I heard Alucard cry out in pain. Forgetting the very deadly creatures surrounding me I just ran for him. I heard the monster move to block me and tried to get around him. Something else jumped for the creature who had been carefully guarding me, and my guard whimpered. He'd been hurt. "Oh shit," I said again as I ran pushed past them and ran. If they were fighting amongst themselves then at least I wouldn't be dealing with them.

Nothing intersected me as I continued running in Alucard's direction. I heard another howl in the distance, then several others echoing it. Subconsciously I counted every separate creature that I heard. It was over twelve now. The creature who had been on Alucard scratching or biting at his stomach jumped off as I approached. Its friends stayed close to him, but didn't get in my way. I paused right before reaching him, trying one last time to sense something from these things. But it didn't work. At least, for some unknown reason, no one stopped me from reaching Alucard. I dropped to his side and grabbed for his hand.

In an instant I felt what he was feeling and knew just what was wrong with him. They'd torn out his stomach and part of his shoulder. But the important things, the neck and the heart, were still there. He'd live, but it would hurt like hell as he waited to heal. He hadn't fed yet today, and without blood it would be hard to heal quickly. He had his eyes closed in concentration as he tried to piece himself together enough to defend himself. No, he was trying to defend me. I could feel that he was worried about me.

"Liz," Alucard said angrily. "You're supposed to be inside the damn building."

"And you're not supposed to be hurt," I replied with the same snappishness. "Can you walk?"

He cursed under his breath. "If I move they'll attack again." He slowly opened his eye and looked up at me. "You should go. For some reason they're not hurting you." He was serious.

"I can't make it by myself," I said, firmly believing it. "I don't even know what these fucking things are."

Alucard stared at me a second longer, than turned his head away from the inn. Standing not ten feet away was what appeared to be a giant, oddly humanoid wolf. He was almost as tall as I was while standing on all four legs, and I knew that they could often fight on just two. This one looked more like a wolf then other pictures I had seen. Some pictures had seemed almost apish. This was no ape. I could see how its body could maneuver more as a human, and its front paws had a hand like quality that allowed for claw like nails. Its face, above all things, was definitely a wolf. The long muzzle showed off large, white teeth. Its fur was so dark the teeth almost seemed to shine off of it.

"Oh god," I gasped. "There can't be that many," my voice held my disbelief. My mind had continued tallying. "There're more than twenty of them. How could one town have more than twenty werewolves?"

The wolf growled at us as Al answered. "Liz, don't worry about it. I know this sounds stupid, but try not to be scared."

I couldn't help but laugh nervously. Yeah, I was that scared. "That's right. Dogs smell fear." The wolf growled again, through Al's eyes I saw what I swear was a glare. "Sorry, wolves," I said to it. It could have been my imagination, but it stopped growling after I corrected myself. "Oh, god."

"Shh," Alucard murmured, he was looking at me again. "Please, calm down. You need to calm down." I think he was scared, too. But he hid it better than me.

"What else is happening?" I asked.

Alucard hesitated a moment, and I realized he didn't know. He hadn't been able to look, he'd been fighting off the nice wolves who were snacking on his stomach. We stared at each other for a second, except all I saw was my own face. Then Alucard turned towards the inn and we saw one of the scariest things I'd ever been up against.

There were more than twenty wolves. There were at least thirty. And they weren't all like the one behind us. Some of them were ape-ish, or more human, or more wolf. Some of them were almost completely wolves, some were almost completely humanoid. They were on two feet or four, but they were all werewolves. Every type I'd ever seen or read about in a book or in person. They were gathered in groups of three to five, standing around the inn and the ground nearby. They stood between cars and around the picnic table that was in the lawn of the house next door. Spread out amongst them were two larger groups. They didn't stand together, but I could see they moved as groups. The first stood near us, almost circling us, but only a few actually watched us. The others were carefully watching the crowds of wolves, who were dangerously watching us.

The second group stood on the inn porch, as if guarding it, or claiming it as it's own. They watched the first group like a hawk watches a shrew hiding in the over grown grass. Again, a small few watched us, but not closely. It seemed the two of us were only important to all of the spare wolves in between. They all looked confused, eager, and hungry. I gulped, not daring to say anything.

Alucard gripped my hand. He knew as well as I did that we were in trouble. I felt him begin to twitch and groan as he did what was both stupid and necessary, he used some of that saved up strength that let him do those impossible things like moving faster than you could watch to heal himself. In a matter of seconds his wounds were closed. There were still scabs and marks, but that took more effort to heal. Just closing the guts and covering everything with skin did what was necessary to allow Alucard to be able to get to his feet and move. Even when finished we stayed on the ground, though, neither of us moving. For the moment no one was attacking us, and we couldn't afford to provoke these creatures.

Then in the distance I heard a howl. To me it sounded the same as all the others, but this one made the restless wolves around us come to a stop. The circle around us and the wolves at the inn all turned towards the noise and stood deathly still. I focused my hearing in the direction of where this other wolf was, and Alucard used his sight the same way. We both watched the break in the trees were we had come from, but heard nothing until a second howl, much closer, sounded. It was still a way off, though. Seconds later what I guessed was the same wolf burst through the trees. How it had moved that quickly I didn't know, but it was here, a wolf that somehow dwarfed those around it without actually being any bigger.

This new arrival stood on all fours at the moment, but I could see how the joints could maneuver themselves into different positions. His entire body was rippling with muscle, and covered with scars. He was missing clumps of mud brown fur from scratches on his stomach and back legs. Fresh scratches ran across his shoulders. He looked somewhat like a very thin, wiry wolf, from this angle, but as he moved he looked broader. It seemed that at every angle I saw a different shape. But this creature was most definitely wolf.

He didn't growl or make any noises, he didn't even look at any one wolf. He just walked slowly and dangerously into the crowd of followers, all of which lowered their heads, tails and ears as they backed up and away from him. I knew enough about canines to see that they were showing submission. The inn wolves weren't so quick to bow heads, but they did. The circled wolves were quick, but they didn't bow as low. Everyone else cowered. After a quick circle to survey everything this new wolf turned to us. For the first time he focused clearly on one person: me.

I took a moment to be happy that I couldn't see. Because then I'd be meeting eyes with this thing. I didn't want to be staring into the eyes of the alpha wolf in a werewolf pack. I was scared shitless as it was. My heart beat faster as he started to walk towards the two of us. Its eyes stayed on me for most of his slow, steady trip. They glanced to Alucard once and he bared his teeth, then he looked back at me, a slightly different look on his face. I don't know how to understand wolf emotions, so it made no sense to me what he was thinking. The wolf continued forward until he stood so close to us I could feel his breath.

With the alpha's back to them the rest of the wolves had stood up again, looking restless once more. I had the feeling that all of the wolves were waiting for him to attack so that they could join in, or at least take some pleasure at seeing us ripped to shreds. There was a lump in my throat getting in the way of my breathing, and my eyes were wide. I didn't want this thing to attack.

The wolf took another step forward, putting him very, very close to me. I was too scared to move, but was very thankful when Alucard pulled me back and away from it. I hadn't noticed that he'd gotten to his feet and was kneeling so that he stayed close to the ground. I was still sitting on the ground, and couldn't move as easily as he could, but he helped me distance myself from the wolf.

The Alpha growled, turning his gaze to Alucard. I ended up meeting his eyes after all. There was a coldness in them. Something so lacking in feeling that it was worse than if he'd been radiating hunger or fury. Well, maybe not quite, but it was almost as bad. It still left me wondering if he'd kill me.

The wolf took another step forward, continuing to stair at Alucard instead of me. This time Alucard didn't move, but again he pulled me back, putting himself partially between me and the wolf. The wolf paused inches away from Al and sniffed the air. He sniffed Alucard for several seconds before baring his teeth in what looked like a grimace. Then he turned back to me. Alucard tensed but stayed still as the wolf turned to sniff me this time. If I'd been thinking I'd probably have done something. Maybe I would have run, or hid, or attacked, or something, but I wouldn't have sat there shivering as the alpha's nose sniffed my face, my hair, my shirt. He growled at the shirt for a moment, but finally pulled back. For a short moment he met Alucard's eyes again and I saw something that could have been confusion, but it didn't attack. In fact it turned its back on us.

I watched in amazement as the alpha nipped at the nearest in between wolf's heels. The wolf yelped and jumped back a few feet in confusion. The alpha nipped again and the wolf backed up further. After a few seconds the wolf had taken the hint and began to back away, leaving the area. The alpha turned to the next wolf and did the same thing. By the third in-between wolf's departure the rest got the idea and slowly everyone began to fade into the trees until only the porch wolves and the circle remained.

The alpha stared at the porch wolves for a long, hard moment. They stared back at him, defiant. The alpha growled deeply, shuffling his feet, and one of the wolves shook its head and backed down. That wolf left turned and walked off the porch before joining the others in the woods. With one of their own surrendering the others all followed suit. Slowly and sulking they left one by one until the porch was empty. Then it was only the alpha and the circle. The alpha turned to the others and just nodded his head, then the wolf who had been behind us came up and nudged Al in the back, pushing him forward. It did the same to me.

Together we got to our feet, watching these creatures who surrounded us as the one solitary wolf guided us forward towards the inn. The realization that we were being herded bothered me a little, but not as much as the idea of us being eaten did, so I didn't have the biggest problem with it. Actually, until a second wolf butted in and pushed itself between me and Alucard I actually had hopes that things would be okay. Then suddenly something was pushing me away form Al, and I was squeezing tighter to his hand, until it slipped from mine and I was left alone once again thrust into darkness.

"Alucard?" I tossed the question out, not sure what was going on.

The growling had started again, all of it coming from the direction Alucard had been pushed towards. Alucard's voice came through it all. "Just keep walking, I'll be okay."

I didn't believe him. Or rather, I didn't believe he thought it would actually turn out that way. I told myself that he was wrong, he would be fine. We would both be fine. The wolves hadn't killed us yet, they weren't going to kill us. A brief thought jumped through my mind saying that I couldn't die, so we wouldn't die. But Alucard alone might. I shivered again, not sure of what to do, but this time when the wolf tried to herd me I didn't move. It pushed against me again and I kept my ground. It growled at me in frustration, but I heard someone else lunge towards Alucard, and I heard him yelp and try to dodge it, and then the normal scrambling noises of some close quartered fight. The wolf's nose hit my chest as it tried to push me back.

"If you want me to move, let him go!" I shouted. In answer the wolf shoved its entire weight against me and I fell to the ground. I kicked at it, hitting it in the jaw. It growled and bit at me, catching my shoe in it's jaw. I tried to jerk it out but it held tight and shook his head back and forth hard. I yelped and tried to pull free again, but it was no use. Instead I felt myself being dragged in the direction the wolf had tried to guide me. Alucard cried out again behind me.

To my own annoyance I stopped struggling. I had pretty much figured that this wolf was stronger than me, and I wanted something left of my shoe after it was done dragging me about. I felt myself be dragged across dirt and over bumps, and a part of me didn't care. I was listening so hard for sounds of Alucard, and my mind was focusing on his every movement. I could hear the wolves around him and I wondered why I couldn't do any more than that.

Finally we stopped moving and the wolf dropped my leg. Groaning I rolled over onto my stomach, simply lying there for a few seconds as creatures walked around me. I gave it one last shot and tried to push myself up to dash back towards Alucard, but I was immediately pounced upon by one of the wolves guarding me.

Then Alucard stopped moving. My heart skipped a beat when I felt a sudden pain in my head, like getting hit really hard. Alucard had just dropped and he nowlaid, probably unconscious, on the ground. I climbed to my knees, focusing as hard as I could on him to see if there was anything else wrong, then on his surroundings, trying to see if anyone posed a threat. I couldn't tell. I almost moved forward again but a set of jaws bit down softly on my arm. I owe the sheath with the knife in it credit for the teeth not breaking skin. The wolf pulled me back over the stairs to the inn. I managed not to trip while climbing up the stairs and the wolf let me go. With one last push I took the hint and backed up all the way into the building.

Suddenly I felt very alone. Passing through the threshhold seemed to seperate me from everything outside, leaving me in a room that felt too still. And very quiet. Alucard's image was fuzzy in my mind. I could hardly feel him at all.

A soft, raspybreath could be heard from the door, but only barely. It took its time fading into the darkness,but it finally disapered. I could hear nothing but my own choaked breathing. My entire effort was focused on keeping track of where Alucard lay.

Then the door slammed shut, and I couldn't even feel him.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

There was a time when I couldn't sleep. It was much like not being able to eat or breath. Sleep wasn't even an option. I could lie down and close my eyes and let my mind drift, but there was no sleep for me.

Now I can. Not always, but most of the time. If I want to I can sleep. It can take hours of lying there, waiting and letting my mind drift, wander and eventually calm itself. Of course sometimes when I'm almost normal it can take seconds. I'll just be tired and drift off to dream land. It's similar to me just needing to breath. I inhale and don't even think about it. I have this assumption, however, that even in these near-human states I don't need to do anything human. I could hold my breath if I felt the need. My lungs would burn and I would get dizzy and experience other side effects, but I wouldn't die. Or I could not eat. My stomach would feel empty and I would get hunger pains, but I would not die.

Maybe I wouldn't sleep. I could go five days without sleep in this sort of state, and I would be fine. Granted my eyes would droop and I wouldn't be able to focus on much, but I could sit there all night with my mind set on one thing and stop myself from nodding off. As much as my body tried to say otherwise I did not need to sleep. All night I had repeated that to myself. "I do not need to sleep. I will not fall asleep." I had no idea what time it was, or what was happening outside, just that I couldn't sense Alucard anywhere, and I wouldn't sleep until I knew what the hell was going on.

I didn't know what to do when the door to the inn cautiously peaked open. Ever so slowly I lifted my head, tilting it towards the noise I had heard when the door moved. There was no way to tell who it was. The first thing I noticed was that it wasn't Alucard, and my hope that I would be able to pick up his signal when the door opened was squashed. For the first time I noticed that I couldn't sense anyone else in town, either. I couldn't always feel humans, but the presence of something should have been out there.

The door opened further, with the softest creaking noise accompanying it. I could only stare with a worn exhaustion, hoping that whatever was at the door meant me no harm. After a night of being terrified by werewolves the last thing I needed was for some jack ass human to walk in here and try to kill me. Then I realized it might still be a werewolf. I didn't know what time it was, maybe one of them pushed the door open. I never did check to see that the door was secure. I'd been too overwhelmed to even realize I could still be at risk.

I heard a footstep, and there was no click of claws on the hardwood floor. Someone sighed deeply and it didn't sound like the breathing I'd heard from the monsters. To be careful I didn't let myself believe I was safe, though, until the person walked over to me and laid a hand on my shoulder. It was a very human hand. I think that put me in the clear.

"Hey kid, how are you doing?" It was Charley's voice.

My eyes widened as I faced the man I'd been talking to only the night before. Some part of me realized that he could be, and probably was, one of the werewolves. After all he had just come into town before the full moon. Everyone in the hotel was probably one of them. My breath began to quicken as my mind wrapped around the fact. There were a lot of people visiting. And there were a lot of people in town. Not huge amounts, but at least a hundred living here normally. They couldn't all be werewolves. But they had to know about it. Well, that would make sense, but they couldn't all be werewolves. I tried to keep the thought out of my head, not wanting to wrap my brain around it, but the question forced itself out. What if they were all werewolves?

"Liz, slow your breathing down for me," Charley coxed, "You've got to be careful else you're going to start hyperventilating."

I hadn't realized I was getting that panicked until he mentioned it. Slowly I forced myself to slow my breathing down.

"Good girl," Charley said softly. I knew I wasn't feeling good when I failed to glare at him for it. "We're going to sit here for a few minutes and wait for some of my friends to show up."

I faced him again, beginning to calm down. If he was a werewolf and was human again that meant the rest of them were human, too. Which meant Alucard may be okay. While I had no way of sensing him I held tightly to the belief that if he died I would somehow know. With that realization my body relaxed, if only a little. Part of the terror that had been building all night eased away. I took off the sunglasses that had stayed with me some how throughout the night's activities to rub the sleep out of my eyes before letting my head droop. "Where's Alucard?" I asked with a very tired voice.

"You mean your friend Al?" He asked uneasily. I nodded. "He's being kept unharmed, don't worry. We just thought it would be best if we didn't let him out on his own for the time being."

My head snapped up. "So he's okay?" Damnit, my voice was too desperate. I didn't want them to see just how terrified I was right now.

Perhaps it was just my nerves that made the brief pause before Charley continued talking to be just a little too long. "He should be just fine," Charley replied in a most reassuring way. Too reassuring, actually.

"What did you do to him?" The words were out of my mouth before I could think about it. Mentally I kicked myself for being snappish. Granted, Charley was holding out on me and that did deserve a sharp tone. Even so, I had now gained a bit of control so that I wouldn't lash out again, and was trying to keep my voice calm, but I had this intense need to yell. I was past scared and into angry, it was easier to deal with anger, and not quite as restricting as fear.

Again Charley didn't answer right away. He did take his hand off of my shoulder and backed up a little. "We knocked him out. It was the easiest way to keep anyone from getting hurt." His voice had left all of the careful compassion behind, replacing it with a strait-forward response. I wondered how much he would just tell me.

"What the hell is going on here?"

Charley took a deep breath before answering then let it out in a gigantic sigh. "We're not used to dealing with people who… aren't like us. I must say, it was rather a shock stumbling across you two out there."

"Which one were you?" This second outburst worried me, I had thought that I had more control over myself. For the second time I forgot to think through my words, and instantly regretted it. I didn't want to know the answer. I really didn't want to know what this nice man turned into.

"What do you mean?" his answer was guarded, void of feeling.

He didn't think I knew what he was. He didn't think I knew that they were werewolves. After all, how could I? I was blind, I hadn't seen anything. They might be worried about Alucard, though. He was a liability. He'd seen them, fought them. He had done things to them that a human couldn't. With a groan I realized that they must have known he was a vampire. They most have known from the beginning. Their sense of scent is better then a vampire's, they would have smelt it on him. They would have known the moment we had entered this hotel.

But why hadn't we? Alucard should have smelt it on _them_.

"You okay?" Charley asked. I didn't dignify that with an answer. "Elisabeth, I need to know if you're okay. Of course you're upset, but are you alright?"

Realizing he was being serious I began to shake my head. And then I didn't stop. Charley put his hand back on my now shaking shoulder, and started to murmur things I didn't really listen to. I suppose that this was the point in time when I just couldn't deal with what was going on around me. My mind was beginning to work against me, and it wasn't usual for me to be unable to deal with situations. I had never been this out of it before. Not to mention I was so damn tired and just couldn't focus. Ten bucks said that wasn't helping me. When my minor shivers turned into a full out shake, where I couldn't stop my body from trembling, I was rather certain I won that bet.

I don't really blame Charley for hitting me. Sometimes you just need to be slapped to be pulled out of what ever panic is going on. In my case I had stopped breathing and was shaking hard enough to worry anyone. I simply wish he hadn't hit me so hard. Maybe if he had been gentle about it I wouldn't have hit him back. But he punched me in the face. I had been really out of it so my body fell into its normal pattern in such situations.

I punched him in the nose. He had shouted some cuss word, I don't remember what, then grabbed the hand I had hit him with. Firmly, I used my free hand to lock onto the fist he was using to hold me, then twisted it off of my hand. He cursed again, this time in surprise. Without thinking I grabbed his shoulders (he wasn't wearing a shirt) and forced myself into a back roll, pulling him with me, before kicking him up and off my body so that he soared into the wall. I completed the roll, using the momentum to continue the motion until ended up on my feet.

That was when I realized that I had unintentionally thrown around a naked werewolf who was trying to help me. The thought was enough to stop me in my track.

"Holy shit!" Charley yelled from the floor. I had a moment to feel bad before someone burst into the inn and I slipped back into panic.

"Charley, what's going-" the girl who had started the sentence didn't bother to finish. Not for the first time I wished I had working eyes, just to see her expression. While I could guess, I didn't know what had caused her to stop talking.

It wasn't a mental feeling that told me to move, but the brush of air against me signaling that something was charging in my general direction. With a Slayer's speed I sidestepped the girl and grabbed for her, not quite certain of what I would do. Quicker than I was, she was able to get out of my way, and then kick my squarely in the gut. Grunting, I backed up, raising all of my senses to their maximum in hopes that I would be able to see the next attack coming.

I didn't. Something grabbed me and threw me into a wall that I hadn't even known was nearby. She pulled me away for just a second before slamming my head back into the wall. Her second attempt to pull me back was ruined when I helped her out, getting a foot up to kick off of the wall and push her back a few steps. She still had hold of me, but I did my best to wrestle out of her grasp. I got a foot under her leg to trip her, leaving us both to crash into the ground.

"Sally, stop it!" Charley yelled. I heard his footsteps on the floor as the girl, Sally, I suppose, shoved an elbow into my neck so that I couldn't breath. Even though the suffocating sensation was unpleasant I got over it to completely ignore the pressure. Instead, after much fumbling about, my hands found her face. She tried to shake them off as I explored her mouth, cheeks and nose while searching for the eyes. My thumbs finally found them, and right before I could apply pressure Sally was pulled off of me. It was just as well, I didn't really want to hurt her. Even though she attacked me I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see it all as a big misunderstanding. Wouldn't be the first time such a thing happened to me.

Suddenly I felt stupid, having not realized that Charley was probably the best person to come and check on me to avoid such a misunderstanding. He was the only person I had talked to who had never pushed me away while enforcing my outsider status. If I were to naturally trust anyone it would be him. That didn't mean that there were other people who did not want to check on me. Or even hurt me. Blind or not, I had in some way witnessed their change. There was already conflict amongst the wolves without me presenting more problems.

"Damnit Sally, I said to stop!" Charley was yelling now. It would have been more effective if he sounded angry, opposed to being frustrated and confused.

I heard her deep, panting breathing before what sounded like a growl rose out of her throat. "She attacked you," Sally snapped.

"I provoked her," Charley's voice had softened to the tone he had used for me when he first entered the inn this morning. "She was defending herself."

"She attacked you," Sally repeated fiercely.

Charley murmured something too soft for me to hear, and I was listening very hard. His voice rose to a whisper as he said, "you can't kill her, Sal."

It wasn't very reassuring to know that the girl who had just been dragged off of you in a rage had to be held back until someone could convince her not to try to kill me. I still heard her panting, and another growl began to rise up before Charley murmured again and it died in her throat.

Throughout this display I laid calmly on my back, propped up and resting on my elbows. My neck stung a little, but the pain was rapidly receding, just as my exhaustion began to fade away. I felt my lungs still as my entire body shuddered softly before I exhaled a deep breath. Then my body just lay still, slowly relaxing into a state of calmness. I blinked my eyes a few times and smiled to myself. It was like all of the fear and anger had faded away with the human needs.

Too late I noticed that the room had faded into silence. Charley had stopped talking. In a blink I had jumped to my feet, but just as quickly someone had grabbed me. It wasn't the girl this time. "What are you?" it was Charley's voice that held the growl.

He held both of my arms behind me with one hand, and his other arm was wrapped around my neck. If I was human I would be having a hard time breathing. At the moment my only struggle was to make sure I could get enough air through my throat to talk. "What the hell are you talking about?" My voice was too calm. It wasn't that I was trying to some way hide my emotion, there was simply no emotion to hide.

Charley's face pulled up next to mine, his nose resting in my hair as he inhaled deeply. "You don't smell human."

There was simply no response to that. My body had begun to tense up again as he held me, but for the second time I relaxed. "Oh. Well, what do I smell like?"

"One powerful Wolf," Lurio's voice echoed around us.

Both Charley and I were taken by surprise to hear him. Had I been waiting for a moment to escape that would have been it. Charley was just as thrown off by Lurio being in the room as I was. "You're not supposed to be here," Charley accused, ignoring his prior statement. I had to wonder though, exactly what he had meant, and exactly whether or not it was true.

My mind was torn out of its thoughts when every inch of me began to itch as Lurio's laughter pressed against me. I had to turn away from him as a memory of that same laughter began to overtake my mind. I had heard it so many times that I couldn't possibly forget the noise. It shouldn't have been so identical to this man's laugh. He shouldn't be able to match my memories so exactly. "Shut up," for the first time since my body had returned to its normal existence I felt emotion, I just wasn't sure what it was. It was some mixture of anger, annoyance and anticipation that seemed to build up in my shoulders and make me want to shake them out. Charley's hold tightened as I tried to do just that.

Thankfully Lurio's laugh died. I could still hear a trace of it in his voice as he replied, "Are you really in the position to be giving orders?" he asked. "Should you really be saying anything at all?" The laughter died away to be replaced with a harsher, resentful edge. I would almost say he was dealing with the same frustration I was.

"I don't hear Charley or Sal complaining," I stated bluntly. "Besides, they were thinking the same thing."

He barked a laugh. "Really?"

"Get the hell out of here, Lurio," Sally confirmed. "We can take care of her ourselves."

"Can you?" he quipped, only somewhat annoyed that she had proved me right. "I distinctly remember a certain someone getting thrown into a wall," Charley's grip tightened again as he glared over my shoulder at Lurio, who's attention had already moved on. "And you," he addressed Sally, "you were about to get your eyes gorged out. By a blind girl."

The silence following his words was thick, and tinged with Lurio's sour humor. I wouldn't have said anything if I hadn't found that humor to be an uncomfortable weight that had more suffocating power than any lack of air. Not many people "rubbed me the wrong way," as the saying goes, but Lurio… I don't even know what it was about him. It just got under my skin.

"Look, they told you to leave, so get your ass out of here before it's you I hurt," there was no humor in my voice, and it wasn't just my imagination that Charley's grip suddenly loosened—a lot. I think he wanted me to try something.

Lurio glowered at me and all the humor was stripped from his voice as he snarled, "Like you could touch-"

"You fucking know I could," I said, interrupting him. "You know I could do a lot more than just touch you."

"I'd kill you first," he said it with a serious determination that lacked the humor of his prior statements, but my shudder wasn't from fear. Or at least not the fear you would think.

"She's Clayton's," Sally growled.

Angered by Sally's defiance, Lurio snapped at her, his voice edged with contempt. "That didn't stop you from trying to kill her."

Sally just shrugged. "For protecting Charley I'd be forgiven," she said with warmth. I must admit I was a bit surprised. She seemed more like a short-tempered, wild, rash and forceful person. I didn't expect her to switch rolls so soon.

"Ah, of course, to protect Charley," Lurio grumbled. "What a fair and just leader we have." Yeah, that was sarcastic. The not so bizarre idea that Lurio was here only to rebel against Clayton's leadership was beginning to become clear.

"She's Clayton's," Sally repeated firmly. I wasn't so sure that I liked the idea of me being someone's property, and I was beginning to consider pointing out that I wasn't Clayton's anything.

Charley feet shifted in unease before he said. "Regardless of who may have been injured, or even killed, we're all safe now and there's no reason for you to be here, Lurio. Go do something productive for a change."

Lurio took a step in our direction, but I heard Sally move to intercept. For some reason the footsteps sounded oddly familiar. Lurio stopped before Sally could touch him, but close enough to be too close.

"Some would argue that what I do is highly productive," he said solemnly. "And that this," his voice broke off. I felt him staring. "this person, if she's even that, is too much for our benevolent leader to handle." His eyes hadn't left me. "I believe he may not choose what is best for us."

"It is not for you to decide," Charley said in the matter-of-fact way that implied he'd had similar arguments. Sally grunted her agreement.

Lurio barked out a laugh that hit me like a fist. I back away from the harsh sound, pushing into an uncomfortable Charley, who obviously was also upset for whichever reason, but had resolved himself to hide it better than I was doing.

Again I was nagged with that familiarity. I heard Lurio's footsteps as he tried to circle in closer, and Sally's footsteps as she mirrored him. Both had an echo in my mind that dug deep into my brain. They stepped again and the echo grew louder.

"It is for the Pack to decide," Lurio announced with such arrogant confidence.

My mind echoed, "_It is for the elders to decide_," and I shivered at the memory of a deeper voice. One that some how managed to be even more condescending.

"You can not touch her." Sally's voice was almost drowned out by the gruff tone of a guard. My guard. I remembered the dark man with hazelnut eyes. He had the court convinced he was mute, and I had been almost surprised to hear him say those words, though they were the precise reason he'd been my shadow. Lurio could not touch me.

Lurio pushed forward in a sudden movement, and I instinctively raised my eyes as if to watch. The scene I saw was not of the tall, rebellious werewolf I'd seen through Al's eyes, but of the broad-shouldered, well-groomed, aristocratic man who I was obligated to call brother. It was the Lurio of old, drawn out of a distant past from a life I no longer lived.

My memory played the scene out before me. Lurio had stepped into my guard, knowing that he'd move to stand in the way. He glared at me with the intensity and hatred that had always sat between us. The whole while I was being held back as well by a second man, who was the only blurry image in a sea of clarity. Truly, it was as if I could see, for every image in this vision was as clear as it was when I had lived it.

"Come now, brother, will you not challenge me to a fair fight? Must we squabble here where none can see you fail?" The taunt escaped me before I knew what I was saying.

Lurio lunged against my guard, but my guard was well trained and held firm. What a seen, I thought, a human holding back a Lurian. And wasn't that a radical thought! For none had stopped us Lurian's. None had overcome us or slowed us down. Even while my guard stood his ground and challenged our champion himself, I knew the humans could never out do us. It was only natural to watch Lurio's attack and see the guard fall. It had only taken a blow, and Lurio was free to advance.

The arms behind me were unsure, uncertain. Should he let me go to defend myself, or hold me back from a fight that should not take place? In the end, the man released me, then eased around the both of us to check on the fallen guard. Neither Lurio nor I paid him any attention at all. We had eyes only for each other.

"Dearest sister," he said venomously, "you know I cannot hide my feelings from the court. I wear them on my sleeve. Why, just now I was sharing them, and the men implored me to seek you out and repeat my words to you." I had no doubt which men he had been conferring with. Faces played across my mind, those of the young men of the court. Or at least the powerful ones, the ones that followed Lurio like dogs eager for a treat. Lurio could hand out such sweet treats. He could also kick you for begging. There was no mercy in him.

My body relaxed as I felt him approach. I let my hands drop naturally to my sides, naturally close to weapons. As the slayer I was always armed, always willing to be the protector of the people, against any monster. If anyone had been there to see they would have assured you my look was enough to tell you who here was the monster. "Repeat them if you dare. But I say words mean nothing. When a coward such as you speaks it is only to delay an ending that you know will come."

He growled low in his throat before charging at me with the most murderous of looks on his face. I knew he hated me, but the feeling was shared, and I did not fear his hate. I feared the blade he drew from his side. It was a weapon made by savages from a land I had never been to. The rumors of it were hard for the humans to believe, but I had seen the memories of others to prove it to be true. This blade was made especially for Lurio, as a gift to a great man they say. I hadn't been there to argue the fact, but whether or not it was true didn't reverse the weapon's threat. It was laced with the most potent poison I had ever seen in action. As he drew it I knew only that I could not let it touch me.

Lurio was not a foolish fighter. He did not charge blindly as I would have hoped, had I not known better. His attack was skillfully placeed, and I had barely enough time to dodge the blade and draw my own to parry his next thrust. Neither blade was long, both around the size of a forearm. We were locked in close combat, and he held the advantage.

My goal was to disarm him if I could. I knew, despite my boasts, that I would not win this battle. When did either of us win? However, it would take only a scratch for me to lose, and I may lose more than just this fight if it happened. Lurio wouldn't be kind to me as I struggled to live. It was most likely that he would cut my throat so as to leave no doubt that I'd be dead.

I was as swift as he was, as well as being smaller and light on my feet. I had a small speed advantage, and used it to always stay just out of reach, or to turn my arm at the last moment, so as not to be nicked. He was taller, though, if not by much. His arms and knife had me beat in length. I used my swiftness to make up for those scant inches, and hardly anything else. In the end it became a game of evasiveness, but I was on the run. He could afford a few scratches, I had to be meticulous.

He backed me around a table, I almost tripped on the chair in an effort to duck out of the way. I was left scrambling to put distance between us. He bared his teeth at me, then pick up the chair and threw it. I raised my arms to block, and lost precious seconds. Still, I dodged once again away from his blade, but was unable to escape him altogether. He grabbed me with his free hand and in an effort to pull away I unbalanced us both, and of all things we tripped over the chair.

On the floor I tried to escape, to crawl or climb away. He gave up no ground, his grip tightening against me. We were close, the two of us, with Lurio half on top of me. His knife was on the far side, though, and he had to maneuver to bring it close. Mine was closer to him, and I knew in an instant I only had one chance to strike. I was trapped under him and he had poison on his side. With a death grip on my blade I wrapped my free arm around him, as if to embrace, and thrust the knife into his back. He arched back, growling out his pain in a thunderous roar. I twisted the knife out of spite and he hissed in pain. He let go of my arm to throw me back to the ground, I could only see him looming over me as his body pinned me to the floor. I did not cry or flinch as his blade plunged towards me, but watched it as time slowed to show me the scene in painful detail, tormenting me with what I couldn't stop.

Someone else slammed into him. It was the man I couldn't see. He had knocked Lurio off of my body, and saved me from being skewered. He couldn't save me from being scratched, though. I looked down at my chest and saw a line already red with blood stretched atop my breasts. The blood thickened and leaked out. I wondered how deep the wound was. I wondered why I almost saw two more lines torn through the clothing. I blinked at the wavering image, unsure of this triple vision.

I looked back up at Lurio. The phantom man had pulled him away, though he struggled to crawl back to me. To finish my life. He did not want the poison to kill me from inside out. He wanted to claw out my innards and crush my heart himself. He wanted me to bleed, he wanted me to scream. Even with the pain already gripping my veins he knew I would not scream.

My vision vanished for a moment, and for that half a second I could see nothing. It was a most familiar darkness. Then again there was Lurio. I could see the hatred raging across his face as he screamed to be released. He must be let go, he must! He was the Lurian champion, he would lead our clan, he would rule our court! If he wasn't released they would suffer. He had not come this far, won this victory, to watch me die like this. No, he would have it be by his hand alone or not at all. I coughed up blood as I stared into his eyes. Ice blue eyes. Cobalt blue eyes. His eyes were really quite beautiful, when he wasn't screaming.

Sluggishly my mind darkened.

Blink.

Blackness.

Blink.

Light.

Blink.

Screaming. _Elisabeth, Elisabeth_!

Blink.

Screaming. _If she dies I will kill you all_!

I laughed blood. He would kill me or I would live for ever. He will crush me or I will be immortal.

"How you must hate Dexion," I said to no one.

Somewhere in the room, the werewolf laughed.

* * *

Ren: Thank you. This is not abandoned. I have simply… been dealing with issues. A great many issues. I could write a book on these issues, and perhaps one day I will. This chapter has been sitting half done for… well, let's say the last time I worked on it was June, and I really didn't make any progress. In fact, I only used four pages of what I originally wrote (out of twelve) for this chapter. It's actually shorter than the original, but it sounds so much better. Anyway, thanks for pulling me out of my brooding. And now it's time for bed. 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

There was a poison in me. I could feel it crawling through my veins. It wasn't what I remembered, though. Whatever had happened in the last few minutes was not the flashback that happened over two thousand years ago. The similarities were undeniable, to be sure, but it wasn't the same. Lurio had used some other trick to assault me, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was.

My brain wasn't working right. All of my thoughts were going by too fast, which may have been normal for a stressful situation, but instead of noticing them, my brain was just letting them slide by. I laid on the ground dazed and unmoving, acknowledging nothing of what was happening around me. Everything was sluggish, foggy and distant. I focused on the only thing my brain had managed to wrap itself around.

I was bleeding. It was a silly thought, seeing how of course I was bleeding. I'd been cut up. Distantly a thought buzzed by saying Lurio had cut me up, and he'd ruined the two wooden knives Al had given me to do it. That thought didn't really matter, though. The one that stayed with me was much simpler, and much more important.

I was bleeding. Something was odd about that, though I couldn't place what. It didn't really matter. I'm sure it was one of those bugs in my head. Stupid bugs. They should go away and stop buzzing. I was much too tired to swat them. Much too tired to do anything, really.

I was bleeding. I could feel the slow stream of blood leak out of me. There was wind somewhere, and when it blew across the blood I got cold. One, two, three, I counted. Three scratches. How odd. Why was that odd? It didn't matter. Maybe I would swat those damn bugs. They wouldn't leave me alone. Why were there three scratches? Lurio had a knife. He only cut me once.

I was bleeding. The thickest cut was halfway up the top of my breasts. It was actually split in half. What did that mean? Must not be too deep. The other two were widely spaced, but the blood had managed to connect all three. It had followed the slop of my breasts, rolling down to mingle. Stupid blood. It was supposed to be inside me.

It took a great deal of effort to break into my thought process and stop it from repeating itself. I knew that in the mush that was once my brain some part of me had realized something important. Something about all of this was odd, besides not being able to think strait or focus. That… well that was unfortunate. But it wasn't the bigger picture. There was a bigger picture, but my brain just wouldn't listen to me long enough to figure it out.

I was bleeding. The thought forced itself back into my mind and I was suddenly very aware of my shirt sticking to my chest. My armpits were gooey. How long had I been lying here? Why wasn't this normal?

Oh. I should have healed by now. That's odd. Stupid magic wasn't working right. I should swat it.

Wait, what? Never mind. Not important. Why was I bleeding again?

I groaned aloud, and the effort of it made me want to sink into the floor. My body almost ached with exhaustion. I twitched a finger, planning to prop myself up, but the twitch really was all I could manage. I was tired, but I didn't want to sleep. I wanted to do nothing. To not be here. To not think. Actually, I was starting to not think. It took too much energy, and I didn't have any energy. None at all.

There was someone above me. Vaguely I knew that whoever it was had been there for some time. Having realized that, I suddenly remembered that someone else had tried to stop my bleeding. The lagging thoughts would have bothered me more if I had enough energy to care. I was no longer thinking ahead, and was barely in the moment, but having chosen a topic my mind focused on whoever was straddling me. Slowly I felt the body creep closer. At the same time it began to slide down my body until its face could rest inches from my wounds. Breath warmed my skin. Slowly, tentatively, it came closer still. The breath fell between my breasts and I took a moment to wonder if this was a guy, then the moment faded and I forgot the thought.

A small portion of skin chilled for a second or two, then the body let out a deep breath. It repeated these steps twice more. The body was sniffing me. I suppose that wasn't too abnormal, seeing that everyone I knew of in town was a werewolf. Having expected the wolf to come to some conclusion by my smell, it was some what startling for its next step. Its tongue jutted out quickly to taste my skin. Knowing that I should be very uncomfortable with this didn't change the fact that I wasn't. Actually, every thought I had put space between itself and the next one. Worry was long gone. It had left me with a dullness that simply allowed me to notice without reaction. This was probably a good thing, seeing how the wolf came back for more. The second taste was a slower, drawn out stroke that sought to get as much blood as possible without leaving its strait line. The wolf paused afterwards, its face lingering against my neck. I felt a deep intake of breath as its body shivered. Then it moved back to my cuts, tonguing the wounds as it collected the blood around them.

The wolf's progress was slow but steady. While it varied its locations, it managed to clean my skin of most of the blood with its tongue and mouth. I felt its body lean closer as it progressed. Its hands found my waist when its face moved to my neck. It lifted a hand to move my arm so it could reach the blood that had fallen into my arm pit. When it finished there its face inched back up until its mouth covered the deepest cut. It lapped at it, but the blood wasn't coming out quick anymore. Not giving up, the wolf wrapped his mouth around it and began to suck hard. I was all too aware of how close its body was now. Hell, the wolf was lying on me, holding itself up with its far hand while the close one inched up my breast.

My brain wasn't working well enough to know that it was feeding on me, however it did managed to catch that somewhere in all of this the wolf was thinking sex. This whole event had broken through the dullness and was wearing me out at an alarming pace, but I just knew something was wrong with the situation. Couldn't for the life of me actually figure out what, but the bugs that were flying around in my head were starting to scream.

It wasn't until its hand was actually cupping my breast and its fingers were getting much too friendly with my nipple that it pushed me too far. From somewhere I pulled enough strength to move. With a grunt I pulled on my body, willing it to move, if only half an inch. I didn't really go anywhere, but the jerk was enough to startle the wolf. Almost as soon as I moved, so did it. The wolf pulled back onto its knees, still straddling me, but away from my still bleeding cuts.

The relief that flooded my mind flowed out in a hurry, leaving behind a washed out patch of nothing. I didn't fall asleep, or pass out, or fall into unconsciousness. I just stopped. There was no more thought, no more buzzing, no more movement. I lay motionless, silent, and at a complete standstill.

* * *

The blue was shimmering. I couldn't really see it, my eyes were closed, but even still, the blue was shimmering. It was actually more of an aqua. Like deep water in the right, bright light. And it was shimmering. I was floating in this shimmering stuff, and if I opened my eyes it was overwhelming, which made no sense because I couldn't see. This really couldn't be an issue. I was blind. But the blue was shimmering, and if I opened my eyes it got bright. I mean really bright. Like white-beamed, high-power flashlight-in-the-eye bright. I don't think that was actually the blue stuff, but they were both shining, and it was too much for me. Worst part was, if I opened my eyes it wasn't just blue I saw. There were other colors blurred by the currents churning the blue. I would need to break out of the blue before I could tell what else was going on, but I wasn't ready yet.

Right now I was resting. Somehow I knew that I was supposed to be resting. I was supposed to just sit here and let myself float. Don't ask me why, but there wasn't a doubt in my mind that I was in the right spot at the moment.

So I just sat there, for however long it took. My mind didn't wander, which surprised me the most. I spent some time learning to clear my mind and meditate a long time ago, and I saw advantages to doing it, but it never caught on. I enjoyed it when my mind wandered. I enjoyed thinking about random, stupid stuff. While I was floating there, though, it just didn't happen. The entire time was spent as if I were half asleep, lingering on a dream I couldn't quite piece back together, but it was so peaceful just sitting there that I didn't want to stop trying.

Then I woke up. The moment came when I was just awake, and I knew I was awake, so I got out of the blue. With my eyes squeezed shut I forced my body to move, and it burst outwards. My fists and feet broke through what was holding me in place, and as one the blue and I crashed into the floor. With a thunk my head hit the floor. Snapping open, my eyes took in my surroundings. Everything was light. All the light was lined up in familiar shapes. The brightest stole the attention from the rest, but you couldn't look at it. Instead I squinted in a different direction. Everywhere I looked, though, was the bright white light. It over powered everything. The only colors that could resist were humanistic, and I knew them to be people. I could only stare at those shapes to try to avoid being blinded again.

One was such a deep, brilliant green that I wanted to reach out and touch it. Streaks of brown weaved through the body, and fewer red and black marks scratched across it. The head was softer, managing to be pale green, pink, and a stunning white all at the same time. It was rooted deeply to the surroundings, blurring at the edges

The second was a contrast to consider. Again it started green, but it was a darker forest green. Again the browns raced through it, but they were more jagged, and stronger. These were almost smothered, though, by many other dark colors, primarily red. Scars traced the edges, so dark that you could see them through the lights all the way from the back. Whatever it had originally been, the lights had been so twisted by the offensive colors that it was hardly the same. However, underneath everything still stood a strong, resilient, virtuous man. He was definitely a man.

I saw all that in a moment, which was followed by a briefer moment where the man moved. Both of these led to the last moment were I was able to see the lights. Then the blue crashed into the white, and broke through whatever power had been holding them up.

At the exact moment I realized I was once again in complete darkness, I also knew I was very cold. Wet and cold. Drenched, really. I had been floating in water for hours and now I was shivering like crazy, and the movement was draining away all of the energy I had collected while the lights were shining around me. Fear gripped me that I would once again be drained of everything I had, and I shivered harder.

"Clayton, now!" said the raspy voice of an old women with such an accent that I almost couldn't understand what she'd said.

At her instruction someone—Clayton, I presume—grabbed hold of me. In panic I tried to wrench myself out of his grasp, but he held firm. He'd used both his hands to hold onto mine, but soon quickly transferred them both into one of his. I tried to jerk away, knowing only that someone was holding me down and that I didn't know what he had planned. Clayton didn't let up, though. He pushed his now free hand towards my face, pressing his wrist against my mouth. Something warm and sticky touched my lips.

Holy crap, he was bleeding.

Holy shit, it smelt good.

A soft moan escaped me as I tried to pull away. His wrists followed me all the way to the ground. Once again I was lying on the floor with someone on top of me. The thought was making me nervous, and those nerves were keeping me sane. His blood was dripping down my lips, onto my chin, leaking down my cheeks, and it was driving me mad. I wanted it, all of it. I was hungry in a way I'd never been before, and it terrified me. Still I gave in just a little, my mouth parting for just a drop. It was metallic, warm, and just a little sweet. My mouth opened wider as I welcomed the blood. I couldn't drink it fast enough, couldn't get enough of it. I gulped it down until it began to slow, then I sucked at his wrist, drawing more of it into me. At some point he tried to pull his wrist away from me, but I found my hands holding it down. I couldn't remember him letting me go. He didn't fight me again after that. He let me suck without much noticeable reaction until I bit him. I wanted to sink my teeth into him, to rip him open so that the blood would flow freely. I wanted him to bleed out on top of me as I drained him. Clayton's moan wasn't from pain.

There was no question when it stopped. I just wasn't hungry anymore, so I unclenched my jaw and pulled back. Clayton didn't pull his arm away, but let it fall with me, to land on my cheek and slide fingers across it.

Then I was looking down on myself. My hair was a mess of wet, stringy knots. My skin was a pale white, almost blue, the near death color being marred only by the dark circles under my eyes. My mouth and chin were smeared with blood, it dripped down to my neck and was beginning to dry. Staring through Clayton's eyes I knew that he saw nothing wrong with this picture. Even without the blood he would have desired me. I felt as if I were moving his fingers when they slid over my lips, smearing what blood hadn't dried. His eyes watched me closely, looking for every sign I gave as his thumb rubbed over my lips once again. He slid it gently into my mouth for a moment, questioning me. I closed my mouth around it, sucking gently. It was as if I were the one sighing, as if I were the one leaning down, as if I were the one kissing me, and all the while I could tell it was most certainly him. I had no clue, however, whether or not it was his lust that caused me to respond. I only knew that I wanted him to keep kissing, that I wanted his arms around me, his hands on me, and his tongue in my mouth. His whole body shifted closer, and he used one of his legs to make room between mine. I spent the briefest of seconds considering the fact that he was the only one of the two of us with clothes, and that second determined that he should certainly take them off. I pretend not to know how far we would have gone if the old woman hadn't taken a firm grip of Clayton's hair and pulled. His head jerked back, his mouth pulled away from mine, and he lost a bit of hair, but for the first time I was able to gather my senses.

"Fuck!" I shouted. My mind raced over everything that just happened and I screamed again, "Fuck!"

Clayton had pulled back, off, and away. Without him touching me my mind was clearer, I could think. Could think about what I'd almost done, what I still half wanted to do. Then I could curse my body for its stupid ideas and settle back to thinking about the more important issues.

"What the hell is going on?"

I imagine there should have been crickets to fill that silence. Instead there was Clayton's panting. He took several deep breaths to settle himself, and managed to calm himself down to normal, which was an actual silence. No crickets to be found. We sat like that for a good ten seconds before the old lady spoke again.

"You had been plugged." Her voice was that of an old Asian women who had learned English second, and spent more time speaking what she learned first.

I propped myself up on one arm before asking, "Plugged?"

"The poison in your blood," she explained, "it hold out the magic. You need magic, you live off magic. The blood carries the magic. The magic protects the blood. The poison shut off magic, and blood escaped."

I nodded as I followed her choppy sentences. "Yeah, lots of blood escaped," I agreed as I sighed deeply while pushing myself to a sitting position. I was about to sit cross legged when I remembered Clayton. And that I was naked, and that we'd just made out. Modesty got the best of me and my legs folded up in front of me so I could rest my head on them and they could hide my torso. "So what was this? Did it just give me back the blood?"

The woman began to shuffle around. "It gave back your blood. The blood Clayton stole. I tell him give it back. But first you need magic. So I kill poison and fill you with magic."

"mmn," I murmured. He gave back the blood he stole. It had been Clayton feeding off of me. That didn't make me feel any better. Actually it made things worse. Some part of me had thought he was one of the good guys. I had thought Clayton was like Charley, that neither meant to hurt me. Oh hell, maybe he didn't mean to hurt me. Maybe he just didn't want to pass up free blood. He wouldn't be the first. I'd been nibbled on by a veriety of creatures, and truth be told, they all thought me delicious. Magical protection normally warned them off, but I hadn't been able to get any magic. That ass whole Lurio had poisoned me. "How did Lurio know?" I asked.

"Know what?" It was Clayton's voice.

I hesitated before answering. "Know what would hurt me."

"He didn't," Clayton stated. I just stared at him, waiting for an explanation. It took a long time in coming. All the while the lady had continued shuffling about, murmuring under her breath. I heard her move things about, and mutter under her breath. If I had to guess I'd say Chinese. Clayton left me to listen as he returned to the more familiar, thoughtful guy I knew. "He claims he smelt a spell on you. The potion he used… it wasn't poison, just a neutralizing serum. It's used to remove harmful magic."

"She said-" I began.

"Don't mind Gran," he said to cut me off. "She comes and goes, always at the right time, always to help."

"What?"

"The doctor's claim she's mentally ill. We've gotten different diagnoses at different times," Clayton explained.

I turned to face the woman. She was on her knees, covering the floor with what I could only guess were towels. I'd half forgotten the water that had spilt. It took me a moment to realize I was sensing her. My head snapped towards Clay and sure enough I knew exactly where he was. I could feel him in my mind, and it was more than just a hunch that he was staring at me.

"What…" I didn't know where to start. "What… what do you know?"

Clayton sighed deeply, and I felt him stretch. He was silent as he moved, rearranging himself to become comfortable. Finally he answered, "Not enough. Perhaps you should explain everything, so I'm not left to assume."

"Who are you?" I counterd, unwilling to start talking just yet.

He stared at me, his gaze hardening. "I'm the man staring at someone who's not human. You may smell human, and taste human, but I just saw you live in water for four god-damn hours. I thought Gran had killed you. Hell, I wasn't sure if you were alive when I brought you here. Explain that." For the first time I heard him sound angry. Angry, and a little worried. I didn't take the time to try to figure out why.

Meanwhile I could only stare at him, thankful my mouth didn't drop. I hadn't been sure it was that long. Time hadn't been clear. Looking back I figured it must have been, but I had just assumed that they had some explanation… there was always some explanation as to why I didn't always appear normal. Of course there wouldn't be any now, and if I had been thinking faster, if I hadn't had so much to think about, I would have figured out what I should say. The truth… I should tell him the truth, I knew that. Though how much of the truth was a different story. I didn't know. I was alone, and naked, and exposed. I didn't know what to do.

I wanted Alucard.

"Promise me you'll let Alucard go."

He didn't say anything.

"If you let Alucard go I will tell you anything you want."

"That's not enough."

"What is?"

He was quiet again. It was almost painful to wait as he thought through his options. Finally he answered, "You have to stay with the pack."

I blinked. "What?"

"You're one of us now. You have to stay," he said, his voice growing certain.

My eyes widened as I tried to think of a response. I figured 'no I'm not' would sound too much like denial. I settled for a very affirmed, "It's not possible." I sounded quite sure of myself. Go me.

Clayton didn't agree. I felt him move right before he grabbed me. I hadn't had time to move. I didn't know if it was because he was that fast or if I was still sluggish. I didn't think that my fear of him just being that fast was ill based. I was afraid that he'd try to do something again. That he'd push himself against me or try to inspire sex. Just thinking he might aroused me, and that scared me more. He didn't touch more than my arms, though. He pulled me close to him, but my legs were still pulled up and stayed between us. He didn't seem to care about my body when he thrust face into my hair. His nose explored my left ear and the hair behind it. I felt him sniff me, taking two long deep breaths before letting out a gigantic sigh.

"If you're not pack how do you smell like that?" His voice had softened, and his grip loosened. I didn't know what he meant. I was scared to pull away. "Somehow it is possible. Tell me what you know and I'll find out how."

I couldn't be a werewolf. Every part of my brain told me that I couldn't be a werewolf, that Clayton must be wrong. Without thinking about it my mind began rationalizing things I didn't understand. I think it was the fact that I realized how stupid it was to start making excuses for things I didn't fully understand that calmed me down. Clayton's hands still held me as he waited for my response. I didn't know what to do. After a moment I sagged in defeat and started talking. Perhaps if I told him enough we could explain away any signs there were of me being a werewolf.

"Um, well, I think I'll start by saying I'm a Slayer. That's where all of this began. One day the old slayer died and I was called into action. There were a lot of bad guys, some worse than others, and one worst of all. Brekken was my arch nemesis, I suppose. One hundred twenty nine years ago he cursed me. It was a curse that had me trapped between life and death. I couldn't be killed or hurt or age. I didn't sleep, drink, eat or breathe. I was stuck." I took a moment to pause. Despite the fact that what I had just said would seem like nonsense to the average listener, Clayton sat still while he paid close attention. Caustiously I continued.

"This wasn't Brekken's idea, though. There was a bigger bad guy behind him, called the Boss. Yes, I know it's cliché, but just go with me. The Boss had this evil plan which required sacrificing thirteen slayers in specific ways so that he could become all powerful. There were certain days, and certain slayers, that would make the power greater. I was the best bet for number thirteen, but the best day wasn't for one hundred and twenty five years later. Lucky for him, at that time I was human again. Some mystical mojo had called me up because of the power of three. The curse is based off of threes, there are three ways to break it. I have to kill my three biggest enemies, my three biggest friends, or be the third slayer. As it turns out I became slayer number three.

"After two years of hiding this brought me to Sunnydale. I don't know if you know it, but it's where a big fight went down between the Slayers and the first evil. Long story. Anyway, while all this was going on, I was dealing with my own troubles. The Boss wanted me dead. He tried to capture me, Al got me out of there. A bunch of other stuff happened. Buffy's witch, Willow, cast some big spell that turned every potential slayer into a Slayer, another long story, and suddenly there were a lot more than three of us. My life was sucked out of me and ta da! Cursed me. That was two years ago.

"So the big battle went down. I won. The Boss is dead. I escaped with my life, minus the eyes." I took a deep breath as I debated how to continue. I felt Clayton about to talk, but I cut him off. "Wait, there's more.

"So I'm going to jump back a bit. Let's say a little over two thousand years. At this point a lot is going on, Jesus is about to be born, the world's about to change, but that doesn't matter yet.

"The big news is this little island where a race has taken over. They're called the Lurians. They're not corporeal in this dimension, or many others, but they can travel through them all. Think of them as researchers. They like to know things. Everything, actually. And to get more information in a limited time, the take the souls of people who haven't lived yet, and borrow them back in the past. It's like being reincarnation, but in reverse. Then they take these people into what they call the Vault. I don't really understand it, those memories are fuzzy. Anyway, they get the memories out of people and put it in there.

"Airaei was the girl who used me. She also was a slayer. Because of how good she was a lot of people wanted her dead. So they went at her the best way they could. They turned her lover vamp and had him do the job. Her lover's name was Dexion. He was human. Because she was able to fall in love she learned enough about the humans to know that she didn't want them to end up the way the vault showed her they would. So she found away to come back to our dimension, and she warned me what would happen. Granted, I was sleeping and didn't remember, but something she did stuck and everything changed because of it. The Boss was supposed to kill me. He would have enslaved everyone afterwards, taken over and all that. But the good guys won. Before she left she gave me something. She gave me all the memories from her life, and some powers to go with it.

"When Lurio and I fought today… it was a flashback. I haven't been able to sense anyone in this town like I normally do. Normally I see danger coming, I react to it and sense it. I know where people are standing or who's all there. I haven't been able to here. And that didn't change with Lurio. We were just having the same fight that we had in the other life. Lurio… I think he was my brother.

"Anyway, that's most of it," I finished lamely. I didn't know what else to say.

Apparently neither did Clay. We sat in a semi-comfortable silence as he took it all in. Slowly his fingers started to trace patterns along my arm but I didn't stop him. "Tell me exactly why you don't think it's possible for you to be changed." He said. It was too much like an order for my taste, but I went with it.

"The curse has its advantages. I don't get sick, I don't get diseases. I've had everything you can think of come at me, and it hasn't left a mark. When a wound is made, it heals. Simple as that. I can't be infected, and, no offence, but going were… it's a disease. Plus, I have built in protection. I appear alive to people. You can feel a pulse even though my heart's not beating. Vampires smell a living person. I blend in."

Clayton tapped my arm as he thought that through. "No marks? Does that mean no scars?" he asked. I felt him looking at my neck. There were the faintest traces of an old scar.

"I was alive when bitten," I explained.

He nodded and looked away. "How do I make you use my eyes?" he asked.

"I'm sorry?"

"Earlier… you were inside me. I felt it. You could see," he didn't sound at all sure.

I nodded to let him know he wasn't imagining things, then took his hand and held it. "Let me in," I said simply. I knew he'd be confused, but I knew what I was doing. Somehow Clayton and I had established a connection similar to the one I had with Al. Through his hand I was able to effortlessly slide myself into Clay. With a blink I was looking at my face. Grimacing, I noticed there was still blood on me. Clayton didn't mind. His gaze didn't so much as linger on the blood as he swept it down to my chest.

There were three recently healed scars in perfect claw marks.

I jerked my hand out of his to check to see if it was real. Both hands went to my chest and traced the lines. The scar tissue was fresh and unmistakable. I opened my mouth to explain, but didn't know what to say. This was impossible, I always healed. Even if it took awhile, or if I was almost human, it healed. I was left gapping, searching for the words, all the while telling myself that he couldn't be right.

"The potion in you was designed to stop magic," Clayton stated. He didn't add anything else, but left me to dwell on that thought.

I refused to dwell, and instead shoved it out of my mind. Even if it were true I had time later. Last night was the day after the full moon. There was a month before the next. Right now I needed to see Alucard. He would know what to do. And if not, he would know how to help me. I pushed the thought that he may not be able to help away. Even if he couldn't, he would be there. I desperately needed him here.

"Let Alucard go," I said weakly.

I was surprised to feel Clayton jerk back. He was on his feet and three steps away quicker than I could stand up. "Will you keep your end?" His voice was deadly serious.

I remembered his requirement. I would have to stay here should Alucard go. I almost said no, but I didn't know how he would take that. I needed Alucard to be safe, and I have to find some way to guarantee it. Cautiously I approached the subject. "I don't believe I'm a werewolf."

Clayton thought on this. "Fine. If you don't change during the next full moon you can go." That was the surest way to prove what I was for sure.

"And if I do?" I asked, causing my stomach to do flips. I didn't want to face the possiblity. I still wasn't sure it was a possibility, but I needed to confront it just to make sure I wasn't getting myself into a life long deal.

"You stay." He stated.

I pursed my lips. "Indefinately?" I asked, "because that doesn't seem particularily fair. I suppose for awhile might be fine, but if we don't put a timeline on this requirement I really am getting the crap end of the deal."

Again Clayton paused to consider what I said. I was worried for a moment that he wouldn't go for it. Then, finally, he said, "Fine. You have to stay for three months. Then you can choose to leave if you want to."

I nodded my agreement. It seemed realitively fair. "If I am a werewolf than I will stay for three moons, but if he chooses, Alucard can stay with me," Clayton didn't say no so I kept going, "I don't want anyone to hurt Al. He must have safe passage while he stays here. Once we leave town we'll take care of ourselves."

Clayton thought it over before answering. "Alucard can stay if he wants," he said, "and as long as he doesn't instigate he has safe passage as far as loyal pack is concerned. If he leaves he is on his own."

I thought it over for a moment, checking to make sure I hadn't left anything out. Finally I nodded agreement. "Deal." I wasn't a werewolf. As soon as I could prove that Alucard and I could be out of here. I think I'd gotten the better end of the bargin.

I felt him relax at my answer, and he moved forward again to help me up. "Let's find you some clothes, then. Sooner or later someone's going to try to kill you. You'll want to be dressed."

I let him pull me up before asking. "What do you mean try to kill me?"

I felt him grin as he wrapped an arm around my waste and guided me towards a door. "You've gotten yourself mixed into a pack war, and as an Alpha female in this pack you'll have all the other bitches gunning for you."

I stopped walking, forcing him to stop with me. "What do you mean, 'Alpha female'?"

His grin returned. "It's all about power and attitude. You have plenty of both." I felt his eyes wander my body for a moment, and I remembered I was naked. "Shower first," he decided, his voice a notch deeper.

I pushed him a way from me and walked myself out of the room. "I'll find it," I called over my shoulder. His eyes followed my every step as I strode out of the room. He could watch all he wanted. I was going to take a shower, get clothes, get Alucard, then get the hell out of here.

* * *

Okies, so here's hoping the grammar's not that bad. I only checked it once, and I often miss a few things.

Comments are loved, btw. As are suggestions, and the like. I don't have any friends reading this story so I'm the only one I can talk it through with, and those conversations can get quite odd.

Thanks for reading, everyone! I'm going to try to keep writing soon. Classes start tomorrow, though, and I'm not sure how busy I'll be.

Till next time,

Rave


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

I hadn't been able to find the bathroom by myself. It really wasn't that surprising. I'd stomped into the next room and had gotten myself sufficiently out of view, then I had just stood there uncertainly until someone came to my rescue. Clayton was smart and didn't come after me, but I think he was responsible for sending Jessie to take care of me. Without solid proof, though, I'm willing to ignore that she just happened to be there at the right time and know exactly where I needed to go. It's possible she just had good intuition.

After leading me to the bathroom, setting out a towel, showing me where to find all the cleaning supplies and how to use the shower, Jessie disappeared again to grab some of her clothes to lend me and I began the complex task of getting myself clean. Not only did I have to scrub at my face and chest, but I'd managed to get blood in my hair, and my entire body was coated in some residue that I think was left over from my experience in Gran's bath. I felt like I had just dried off after swimming in the ocean and salt was pasted on everywhere.

After a moment of vigorous scrubbing I slowed down. I was too damn tired to rush strait into the task, and for a few moments I let the water flow down on me. Jessie came and left while the room began to fog up. I wasn't sure where to start thinking about the whole mess. I liked the simple facts. Like, I was in a town filled with werewolves, but it was a whole month until the next full moon, so in theory I'd be okay. And there was always the fact that I wasn't dead yet. That was another good one. Alucard was also, in theory, not in too much trouble. Just focusing on that gave me a little more strength back. I had to get through this shower, get dressed, and find someone to get me to Alucard.

Beat the hell out of thinking about everything else.

I resumed the lengthy process of scrubbing every inch of my skin. Somewhere there was a loofah, and after I found it, got it untangled from some other stringy thing, and managed to get the soup stuff on it, I set to work. Some long length of time later, I was struggling with that bit of your back that takes much stretching to be able to reach. But I could feel the gunk sticking to me there, so I spent what must have been at least five minutes getting it all off. Then there was the hair, which I was scrubbing at for the second time when I smelt a change in the air. Why did I smell it before I felt a brush of cold air enter the shower? Couldn't tell ya. Then I felt someone outside the shower a second before the curtain was ripped aside.

My body froze for a moment, waiting to respond to whatever the person would do next. He or she stood still, but a growl was growing angrily.

"Get out." It was definitely a girl, a girl who was grabbing my arm and trying to pull me out of the bath. I tried to jerk myself free, but her grip was like steal. I was really beginning to get tired of super strong people. "I said get out!" she growled. Her voice had changed, it sounded less female and more beast. I braced against her next tug, planting a food against the side of the tub to steady me.

"Wait a second here," I said, "who the hell are you, and why don't you just give me a second to rinse off before we settle things?"

All I got in response was a longer growl and two hands wrestling me out of the tub. I tripped on my way out and the woman let me fall. The floor was very hard.

"You cannot be here." It was an order as much as an accusation, and for the first time I had a vague feeling of recognition.

"Wait, who are you?" I asked as I began to push myself into a sitting position. As a reward, a foot slammed into my chin. Yelping I fell back down and the woman put her foot steadily on my chest.

"You cannot be here," she repeated smugly, content that she was in control.

I could have handled being kicked. My ego's not that big that I won't let myself be pushed around a little to keep things simple. But when she practically stood on top of me, that was too much. I grabbed the foot that wasn't standing on me and pulled it out from under her. For a moment extra pressure was put on my chest, then she fell over. I moved quickly to try to get out of the way, but it was unnecessary because she was moving as soon as she hit the floor, and even with me trying to avoid her she ended up on top of me, this time with her gripping both my wrists while she straddled me to keep me down. She moved faster than any human I'd met, which meant that along with strength they got speed. Oh, joy.

Dimly I was aware she was leaning down towards me. First she buried her head in my hair, right behind my ear. I was left with my face in a similar position. Amazingly it made sense. I could smell _her_. She had cherry shampoo, but beneath that was something more. _She smelt human_, said my mind, but it was a smell I had never noticed before. Not only did she smell human, but she smelt strong. It was as if the power that radiated from her wasn't a feeling that I would have picked up normally, but a smell you had to know to look for.

_But she wasn't stronger than me_. The little voice in my head that understood all of this was quite certain of that. Still, I wasn't strong enough to push her off. At least not until she shifted downwards and her face headed for my crotch. She may be a girl, but I was naked and my comfort level was only so adaptable. I used her lack of leverage to twist my arms away from her grip. She backed up to try to grab them again, and I punched her in the nose.

Grunting, she pulled away a little, before reaching for me again. Apparently she could handle a little pain. I grabbed her wrist, pulled it forward so that her arm was completely extended, and slammed my other palm into the back of her elbow as hard as I could. I have super strength, too. Something broke.

That got me a gasp and a hiss, and then a chance to stand up. I was by no means out of a fight, though. The part of my mind that seemed to know everything I couldn't see took over, and my body moved on instinct. The women through punches, scratches, and kicks, and she did it all with more skill then I originally gave her credit for. Even though I'm certain I heard a snap, both arms were put to work in the assault against me. In the end she was faster. I had raised a knee to block a kick, and before I could get back into a stable position she had me off balance and on the ground again. Then there was a knee against my back and her arm around my neck, attempting to cut off oxygen that wasn't needed. Still, struggling got me nowhere.

"You do not belong here," The woman stated harshly. "If you ever enter this house again, I will kill you. Clayton is not in my home. He will not be able to protect you." I tried to get air through to say something in response, but it was no use. She let the words sink in for a moment before coming closer to whisper to me, "I am alpha bitch here, and I don't care what fantasies Clayton has about you. You are not going to change things in my pack." Then my head was slammed into the floor. The sting hadn't warn off by the time she was off me and at the door. "Make sure you tell Clay about this." I thought for a moment she was talking to me, but then someone else answered.

"Don't worry, Vanessa, I'm sure you'll have the story spread soon enough. He won't be able to avoid it." Charley had seen the whole thing. The moment he talked I realized that I had smelt him in the room. How the hell could I smell him?

Vanessa left and I heard Charley come forward. The ringing in my head was almost gone, and my sixth sense had settled to the point that I could feel him come. When he got in reach he reached out to help me up. I pushed his hand away and climbed back up to my feet.

"Liz…" His voice trailed off into a sigh. I didn't say anything to help him out. "Clayton had challenged her through you. This is the female house. No man should come here without a woman's permission. Not even our alpha. No woman is allowed in without the alpha female's permission. Gran never leaves, though, and you would have died…"

I shot him a glare and his voiced faded. "And you just stood there? The whole time?"

He sighed again. "She forgave Clayton for bringing you because she's not such an ass not to let a dying pack member be saved. But you didn't leave afterwards, and that was an insult to her. If I had interfered it would be me challenging her. Which would mean that I thought I was higher in the pack then she was."

Great. Now we were getting into politics. "So she would have kicked your ass, also? Or would you have held your own?"

"Given an excuse, she would have killed me." He said it so flatly that it took me by surprise.

"What?"

"She would have killed me, then everyone in the pack who I alone protect." It was such a neutral statement that I knew he was hiding every bit of emotion that went with it.

"Then why did you even come?"

He moved towards me while he answered. "Clay wanted one of his wolves here to see things for themselves, to know that Vanessa wasn't lying, and that she didn't have a reason to kill you. You need to wash your hair better, it smells like blood." The sudden switch in topics caught me by surprise. "Come on, I'll help you, it would take you all day and you'd still miss something."

"Wait, I'm naked." Now that things had calmed down the thought actually started to bug me. I had realized it when Vanessa was beating on me, but she was a girl, and I can handle that. Charley was a near stranger man.

Charley chuckled. "Sally has made it perfectly clear that any questionable conduct with other women will lead to my castration, and since I have no reason not to believe she's entirely serious, believe me when I say you're safe with me."

Strange thing was I believed him. Sally hadn't seemed too right in the head when I first met her, and she was very easy to upset. But still… "The clothes—"

"—Would get wet," he finished. "Now into the tub."

I almost insisted, because he would have given in, but the simple fact that neither Charley nor Vanessa had made any gesture that they cared about my lack of clothes made me feel silly for thinking it was a big deal. I suppose all the stories had it right about werewolves comfort with this sort of thing. Besides, Charley managed to clean my hair completely the first time through. He also helped me with my finger nails, my neck, and the tricky spots behind my ears. I trusted him when he said we had done all we could to get rid of the blood, since he could hardly smell any trace of it. Smell was a big thing amongst the wolves. My sense of smell had improved. Rapidly. Accepting a towel from Charley I did my best to ignore my clenching stomach as I dried off.

Charley helped me get dressed. The skirt was a different sort for me. You wrapped it around twice and tied if off at the end. It was made so that even though it was tight up top, there was a lot of room to move in. I could probably run without much of a problem. The bra was a size too small, but it was also a sports bra, making it easier to wear. The shirt a simple tank top, my guess being that it was a little boy's extra large by the way it fit. Overall I approved.

When all was taken care of, Charley took a step back, looked at me, and sighed.

"What is it now?"

He shook his head and guided me out of the room. "Nothing," he said evasively.

My eyes narrowed, and I went with the 'I'm offended' approach to get it out of him. "If I look like shit just tell me instead of doing all this sighing nonsense."

"No, nothing like that," he said quickly, "Just the opposite, really."

That was just confusing. "Wait, so I look good and you sigh all sad like at me?"

He let out a slight groan and continued to walk me through the house. "It's just… You look like Jesse. A more attractive Jesse. With a lot of differences, but close enough that it matters."

And that was baffling. "And that matters why?"

"Because Clayton's sleeping with Jesse."

That stopped me in my tracks, if only to get Charley's attention. "Hold up, why is _that_ important?"

He tugged on my arm. "I have every intention of explaining, _after_ we get out of this house. Neither of us wants Vanessa sending her goons in." That I could agree with. We kept walking. It didn't take long to get outside, and walking out the door was like walking into the perfume section of a department store: overwhelming with an awful stench. Except this smell wasn't as bad, there was just so much of it, so much of everything. Charley actually gave me a moment to get accustomed to it all before moving on, this time at a slower pace.

"It's hard at first," he said, "but in a lot of ways you're lucky."

I didn't have the energy to argue over the fact that I wasn't a werewolf. I didn't think he'd believe me, either. They'd chalk it up to denial and pat me on the head. Instead I asked, "How am I lucky?"

He didn't answer at first, instead he took advantage of a flight of stairs to carefully guide me up without mishap. Finally he explained, "You have a month to adapt. Your first change won't be so sudden. You'll have expected and prepared for it, especially with the pack's help. They're rough at first, but you're one of us, we take care of our own." He spoke as if he knew from experience.

"So everyone here is a werewolf," I said only to confirm it.

"Yeah," he answered. "It keeps life interesting." Then we were at a car, and he was helping me in. It smelt musty and dank, like the doors had been left open too often during rain. I let the scent sink in and tried to push it out of my mind for a moment. After walking around to the driver's side Charley climbed in himself and started the car. He put it in gear and we were off.

"Okay, I'm going to try to keep this simple," he began. "The pack operates under a sort of hierarchy. The strongest, toughest wolf leads the pack. The leaders tend to be male, because men are naturally stronger then women. Not that women can't be among the strongest in the pack, Vanessa sure is, they just generally aren't at the very top.

"Women are important though, and are often considered a class of their own. They have their own leader, the alpha female or alpha bitch. You can pick witch term you use. Because of conflicts in the past the females now have their own safe house, where we came from, where men are forbidden without permission. All permission can be vetoed by a higher female member of the pack, with the alpha female having the ultimate control over it. That's why she was mad at you. If you had gotten away with the insult it would have been a sign of weakness on her part.

"This is why you two had to fight. The stronger of the two of you would be seen as dominate, and would be the alpha female. Little squabbles go on all the time between pack members, but after awhile there is a general understood order in pack hierarchy.

"Those are the basics, any questions?"

I shook my head. "It's like a classic werewolf story. No big deal."

Charley smirked. "A lot of the stories are based off facts," he agreed, "but onto the next part:

"Clayton is the current alpha male of our pack. He's only been in charge for about two and a half years, though. Before him we had Jeremy, who had been running this pack for close to two decades. He's the one who set it up and established the protections needed to keep us safe. He had a lot of followers, and none of them were happy after Clayton fought him for the title."

"Where is he now?" I asked, having a sneaky feeling about the answer.

"Challenges of that much importance tend to be to the death."

"Figures as much."

Charley grunted his agreement. "The story goes on, though.

"Jeremy had been training someone to be his replacement. Had the kid hand picked back when he was young. Everyone had just expected that when the time came the roll would be handed over to him, which makes sense, because Lurio's the second strongest in the pack."

"Wait, Lurio?" I snapped.

He laughed. "Yeah, no kidding. Can't say I'm sad he never made it. But the problem is that half the pack thinks he should have. And it's a damn good thing that Jeremy had enough people pissed when Clayton came around, else Vanessa and Luiro would have had his throat. Literally." Again, I believed him. I had seen both humans and demons who wanted power enough to kill for it.

"After the initial shock wore off Clay could have smoothed things over. While Jeremy's supporters had, in their own twisted way, loved the bastard, they also responded to power. Vanessa would have supported Clayton's power had he not snubbed her.

"Us wolves are attracted to power. We aren't demons, but the demons are still in us, and they recognize each other. More than that, they're attracted to each other. I can tell you if a random girl on the street is a wolf or not, because the demon would know, and if there weren't any other wolves around there would be a strong urge to chase after her. And like a lot of animals, we want the strongest mates possible. So, traditionally, the alpha male and alpha female were mates. They weren't exclusive, but they were a couple. Clayton wanted nothing to do with Vanessa. For more reasons than I care to mention.

"Which brings us to Clayton's string of women. He never stays with one for more than a few months, and he rarely dates one higher up in the pack. All of the girls he sleeps with are under his protection, and when you're low in the pack you want to be protected by someone, so Lurio and Vanessa have a hard time hurting them without it being a direct challenge to Clay.

"There have been rumors, though, that Clayton's just biding his time until he can find a different woman to take over as alpha female…" his voice trailed off here, but I only waited for him to keep talking. I heard the car pull off the dirt road and onto gravel. Then the crunch of gravel slowed as Clayton pulled into a parking spot. "The thing is, you're just Clayton's type," he began again, "and I can smell the power on you. It's not wolf power, but it's able to adapt to it. You smell strong, and I've seen you fight. Given enough time the wolf in you may grow to rival Vanessa. Clayton wouldn't want to let that chance slip by." He put the car in park and turned the engine off. We sat in silence a moment while I considered this.

"So basically you're telling me that people are mad at Clayton, and at the same time they're worried I might start sleeping with him in case he decides to try to help me take Vanessa out and take control of the pack?" I asked, then as an afterthought added, "Has everyone forgotten I have a boyfriend?"

Charley leaned back in his seat as he answered, "That's the best part. They're all yelling and shouting about it because Clayton won't let them kill him. Apparently you're going to make him go away soon, and it won't be an issue, which brings up more shouting about us not being able to trust him if he leaves, so we can't let him do that." Charley's sigh was the largest he'd made yet. "I'm so damn tired of all of this."

"I hear you there," I agreed. "So where are we, anyway?"

"Clayton's place. He's not here yet, though, and the door's locked. We have to wait for him to show up."

I shrugged and settled into my own seat. "Do you have a lot of problem with theft around here?" I asked as a joke.

Clayton smirked. "Nah, but last summer someone poisoned half of Clay's food. We hunted down the wolf who did it, but Lurio had gotten there first and tore the guy's throat out. Because he attacked our alpha, he said."

"Right," I grumbled. "And a lock will slow down the bad guys?"

"Granny's lock will slow down the bad guys."

"Ah." I suppose that made sense.

Both of us sat in silence. We were both tired and content to rest while we could. I for one didn't know what was coming next and I wanted my brain to sort itself out before I had to deal with whatever it was.

Gees, they were all worried Clay and I would hook up. Like that would happen.

My thoughts skipped a beat. It almost had happened. Without Gran's interference it would have happened. Maybe the pack wasn't so crazy to be having those thoughts after all. I made a promise to myself not to get carried away again. I would do my best to focus and if nothing else, to just be aware of what was going on. Everything had happened because I hadn't known what was happening. From now on I'd do my best to know.

Then Charley was getting out of the car. "He's coming, I'll get the door for you." I waited until he came around and helped me out.

"I don't hear another car," I said softly, and then I felt him coming too. It was an entirely new feeling, as if some part of me was approaching. It felt familiar, comfortable, and safe. The voice in my head whispered _family, pack_. And then Clayton stood next to us. I wanted to reach out and touch him. Not for sex, but because at some point a bond was made between us, and it felt like the right thing to do. I knew he was looking at me just then, and I wondered if he felt it, too.

Then he turned to Charley and the feeling began to fade. "So?" the one word implied a million questions.

"Vanessa went easy on her," Charley answered. I wasn't happy that Vanessa's 'easy' had ended with me unable to defend myself. I suppose eventually she would have tired first and I could have done something, but that would have taken a long, long time.

Clayton nodded and then gestured towards the house. "Shall we?" Of course we followed him towards it. Charley helped me up the stairs to the porch while Clayton unlocked the door, then both of them motioned me inside.

Upon crossing the threshold everything changed. All of the small, common sounds of the woods disappeared, the scents faded away, and it was as if I had entered a silent, empty room. Except I felt people. Not right here, but throughout the house, there were many, many people. Charley and Clayton followed me in, with the door swinging shut behind them. There was a click of a lock, then Clay moved forward to guide me inside.

He put his hand on the small of my back as he stepped forward, and I could feel the warmth of it through the cloth between us. So much of me wanted him to touch skin that the half second that it took him to complete the step and brush his arm against mine was utter torment. Then with a spark our skin met, and I could feel his body as if it were my own.

He was tense, very, very tense. He had said he wouldn't touch me again. He didn't understand what happened when he touched me. It was like he was inside my mind and completely open to me as well. He didn't like that in the least. But it also felt good to be this close to me. And it felt good to know that through him I could see again. Right now he was looking at me, staring at my wide eyed face, admiring how I could be so surprised with this connection, while at the same time completely excepting it. He wondered just how far this would go.

Then Charley made a noise and we were looking at him. He stood in a hallway, watching us uncomfortably. Clayton was looking at his expression, reading his friend with years of practice. I was thinking that Charley seemed like the sort of guy who would wear a cowboy hat, and that his fit him nicely. It would have been better with matching boots, but the nikes would just have to do. Through Clay I knew he was worried, though. Charley knew Clayton, and he knew he didn't open up to people this quickly. Even the girls he slept with never got close to him. Not really.

Thinking of other women reminded me of what was happening. I realized that I had crept closer to Clay. He had his arm around my waste and held me in a half hug. He knew the moment I realized it, knew that it scared the shit out of me, and he let go. I gasped as he pulled away from me. It was almost painful to suddenly be so alone and distant.

"I'm sorry." I wasn't sure who Clayton was talking to, but both Charley and I ignored the shaky side of his voice. "Follow me," he said, his voice making it an order. Then he walked off, leaving Charley to make sure I obeyed.

We followed him obediently through the hallway and into another room. There were people there, lounging about. The small conversations had hushed as we came down the hall. When we entered the greeting wasn't cold, simply cautious. Everyone was looking us over to see what had happened near the door. Scents swam at me, identifying people to the feelings in my mind. Scent is the most memorable of senses. Chances were I could recognize any of these people in a crowd just by having smelt them here. There were four all together, and after a moment they stood up and came to greet us.

The first I recognized as Sally. It was a hunch that it was her, but when she walked up to Charley and kissed him I knew it was true. Then came a girl who smelt younger than the rest. Probably still a young teenager, who came up to Clay and gave him a hug, calling him "Uncle Clay." He laughed at that and playfully pushed her away, where she walked over to me and looked me up and down. Clayton was left to talk to the two men as the girl studied me.

I wondered briefly if this was the slayer we were looking for. She was the youngest person I had seen in town, it was entirely possible. But she didn't smell particularly strong. She was weaker than the two men with Clayton, and far below Charley and Sal. Knowing this made me certain she was just a wolf.

Then I over heard Clay ask, "And the vampire?"

Which was followed by the answer, "He was making some racket awhile ago, but he seems to have calmed down."

"Wait, Alucard's here?" I asked, throwing everyone into silence. They were all waiting for Clayton's response.

I felt him study me for a moment, and smelt a new emotion come off of him. I didn't know what it was, though, and the voice in my head wasn't helping here. "He's downstairs," Clayton said, his voice soft. "Brad, why don't you let her go down."

I could feel Brad hesitate, but he knew better than to say no to Clay. Instead he nodded agreement. "Follow me," he said, resigned, and I followed the sound of his voice. He led me to a door, and I could sense everyone's eyes on me.

"The door's only open from this side," Clayton explained from the other end of the room. "We can hear what's on the other side, but you won't hear us. When you go through this door then will be a stair case, and another door at the bottom. Leave that door open else you won't be able to get back up. Then knock on this one when you're done."

I felt Brad tense besides me as I nodded. He opened the door to let me through. I turned for a moment before going down. "Thank you." It was the only thing I could think to say.

Clayton didn't answer, so I started down the stairs.

No one came with me to help. I didn't blame them, there was an angry vampire at the end of this tunnel. In response, though, I made my way slowly downwards. The final landing took me by surprise and I had one of those jolts you get when you expect there to be another step and your foot comes down too hard. Muttering under my breath I reached forward for the door. It was easy to find the knob, then to twist it and pull it open.

Then I was on my ass once again, this time with Alucard on top of me, hands around my throat. We both froze for a second in surprise. I should have figured he would be waiting for the door to open. He had no way of knowing it would be me on the other side. "Liz," he said in amazement, and then I was picked up in a squeezing hug and welcoming his kiss.

We stayed locked together for some time, even though the kiss lasted only a short while. I managed to get my feet on the ground and my arms wrapped around him, but we never pulled apart. My head rested against his shoulder as I hugged him, and he held me tight against him. All the worry I had over whether or not he was really alright vanished. I could feel him right in front of me. Everything would be okay. Clayton would let him go and then… I didn't know what would happen then. I let my uncertainty be washed away in the feeling of him. _This is my pack_ I whispered to whatever voice may be listening. _This is my home_.

In the end we were on the floor, still holding each other. We had opened up our minds to each other, and he had a glimpse at my feelings, since that was what we could share, and I could see his hunger. It was small, for now, but he hadn't fed in two days, and he would need to soon. There was blood in our trunk, in a special refrigerator set up to run without additional power. As long as we didn't open it frequently it would keep the blood cool enough to be useful later.

"Are you okay?" He asked finally.

I nodded against him. "Yes. Now I'm fine."

He squeezed me tight for a moment, then kissed the top of my head. "Now you're better, but are you okay?" I could not pretend with him that something wasn't wrong. He could feel that I was worried.

"I… I don't know," I said at last. "There's so much…"

He squeezed me again. "Do we have time?" He asked.

I nodded. "I think so."

"Then tell me."

And I did. I started at the beginning with Charley walking in on me, then explained the flash back with Lurio. I talked about the poison and Clayton's response to it, then the side effects of Clayton's response to it. I let him know about the theory that I was a werewolf, about the politics going on right now between the werewolves, and about the deal I had made with Clayton to get Al out. When I finished he just held me closer, and neither of us spoke for a long time.

A creak at the top of the stairs caught both of our attention. In a flash Al was standing and between me and the door at the top. Just as quickly I felt Clayton come inside and shut the door behind him. The moment Al recognized him tension built between the two. They stared daggers at each other as I climbed up to my feet.

"Clayton, what're you doing in here?" I hadn't meant it to sound like an accusation, but his gaze shifted to me and I felt anger behind it.

Still, he answered the question, "The others don't want me to release the vampire." The world 'vampire' was said like an insult. Alucard was used to this, however, and he made no response. "I have agreed to discus it further before letting him go. I came in to let you know that before you can leave, he must go back into the cellar."

I opened my mouth to argue with him, but Al's touch stopped me. He squeezed my arms softly in reassurance. "For how long will you be discussing this?" He asked, not bothering to hide his skepticism.

"I promised Elisabeth I would let you go. I did not lie to her," he said defensively, but it wasn't answer to the question. Alucard and I both caught that.

"How long?" he asked again.

Clayton's answer took awhile. "I don't know," he admitted finally, but added no explanation. Alucard nodded, satisfied only because Clay had told the truth, then he turned away from him.

When he turned to me he pulled me into a kiss. It was deeper than our earlier one, and he didn't just pull me against him for comfort. I could feel that he was jealous of Clay, jealous because Clay had been closer than me then he should have, because Clay had been able to touch me and kiss me while Alucard had been locked up here. He was also angry that he hadn't been able to do anything to stop it. I would have pulled away from the kiss if it hadn't been a quick one. I didn't want to be used as a petty way to get back at Clay. But when Al hugged me afterwards it wasn't just for some small revenge. I could feel his sincerity and all of my annoyance disappeared.

"I love you," he whispered into my hair.

I clung to him. "I love you."

Regretfully he pulled away. "You have to go now."

I began shaking my head, and this time didn't let him stop me from talking. "I don't want to leave you here. You need—"

"—I'll be fine," he assured me.

"But-"

He pulled me back into a hug, "No buts. I will be fine. I need to know that you will, too."

"I could stay here," I suggested.

I could feel his strong disapproval of that idea. "No. You don't need to be here." The words were harsher than needed. I wondered why he felt so strongly about it. His feelings didn't answer the question. "Go," he said, "Clayton will take care of you." I knew it hurt him to say that. I also knew he believed it. I didn't know why. But his feelings told me he would take no other answer than 'yes, I will go.' Even still I hung onto him. He pulled away again, and put distance between us. "Go." I didn't move. He actually looked up at Clay, silently asking for help.

That was what did it. He wanted me to leave so badly that he would ask Clay of all people for help. I took a step backwards towards the stairs. Alucard sighed in relief and backed up himself.

"I love you," he said one last time. I turned around to answer him, but the door had already closed and he was back in the cellar. I stared at it for a long moment, wondering how I could have let him go.

I almost walked back to it and followed him in, but then I felt Clayton take my hand to lead me up the stairs. Once again I hadn't heard him approach. My brain snapped away from the feelings that lingered from Alucard. Clayton wasn't comforting, he was angry. Angry at Alucard. Angry at me. I let him lead me up the stairs as I puzzled over the reasons. He felt my confusion and he grew angrier still. We reached the top and he pounded on the door. It opened at once and he guided me through. The moment we were out of the stair case the door shut, and Clayton let go of my hand. For a moment he stayed beside me, as if uncertain of what he should do, then he stormed off, and I could only stand awkwardly wondering what I did to piss him off.

Then it hit me. He wasn't just angry, he was jealous. Alucard had succeeded more than he could have hoped for, and I didn't for the life of me know why.

All of the people in the room were being quiet, as if they were trying to avoid my attention. I had no where else to go, though, nothing else to do. Clayton had left me confused and alone, and as far as I was concerned that was more than enough reason for me to be pissed at him. Everyone in the room would have to put up with me. I had no where else to go, so I sat right outside the cellar door.

And I wasn't moving until Clayton came down and told me to himself.

* * *

Fine then, don't review. I'm gonna keep writing anyway. 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"I'm not going," I reiterated.

Charley sighed, exasperated. "Liz, darling, _everyone_ is going."

I didn't waste the effort to raise an eyebrow. "Al's not going."

"Well, of course _he_'s not going," Sally snapped from across the room. She lounged in a chair, eating a bowl of corn flakes, as she watched the argument.

Charley sent Sally a look. She shrugged at him. With another sigh he turned back to me. "Liz, all of the pack is going."

His amendment didn't settle things. It simply brought us to our fundamental disagreement. "I'm not pack."

Charley looked ready to pull his hair out. "If you weren't pack we wouldn't have let you in here," he said decidedly.

"I have no say as to why you let me in here, but just because you believe I'm pack doesn't mean it's true."

He growled this time. "You said yourself that you've felt symptoms! We can all see your reactions to increased senses. And to top it off, you bypassed all our defensive spells, and can sense—can smell—the wolf on each of us. That can only be done by pack."

"I exchanged blood with Clayton, yes?" Begrudgingly he nodded. "Well, then, how can you be sure that by giving Clay my blood, then taking it back, I brought some—but not all—of his gifts with me? Perhaps all the things you mentioned are simply side effects of that interaction." I had taken to that theory. It seemed sound, and it didn't leave me turning furry once a month. Over all, I liked it.

"Liz, exchanging blood with a werewolf tends to turn you into a werewolf."

I smiled, "Ah, but I'm not human to begin with. I'm immune."

He glared at me, growled again, the stepped away from me to begin pacing the room. After a few turns he found himself behind Sal, and rested his hands on her shoulders. She relaxed against him as he sought comfort, allowing him to soak up her tranquility. She wasn't worried about whether or not I went to the after-moon bash. She wasn't worried about whether or not I was a werewolf, or whether or not Clayton was remotely interested in me. She had Charley, she knew where she stood in the pack, and I posed no threat to her mate or her alpha. They called me pack, so I was pack. Everything I said was just noise.

Charley wasn't allowed to dismiss me so easily. He was told that I was going to the party. He had to make me go.

"You'll be putting yourself in danger if you don't go," he said, trying a different method of persuasion.

I leaned back against the basement door, trying to arrange a comfortable position on an uncomfortable floor. "I'm always in danger, regardless of what I do to prevent it."

I could feel Charley's reclaimed ease starting to slip as I continued to aggravate. "You don't want Vanessa coming down on you, you don't want any reason for her to turn the pack against you," he was so utterly sure of this that I couldn't just blow him off.

"I don't know much about Vanessa. I know she's at odds with you and yours and consequently doesn't like me or mine, however, I can honestly say that the chances of her hurting me, and I mean seriously doing me physical harm, are slim to none," I explained. "It's not that I consider her unthreatening, but simply that I don't believe I'm a werewolf, I don't believe I'm going to have to live with this pack, and I don't believe I'm going to have to deal with Vanessa."

"But the rest of us are!" He pressed, his voice growing with his urgency. "If you're not there she will see it as weakness, she'll think we are hiding you because we don't believe you can handle yourself. She'll think we're hiding you in an effort to buff you up so we can throw you at her later, on our terms. We will look cowardly, we will look insecure. In a divided pack no one can afford to look insecure."

"So I'm to surrender myself to your pack just so you can have an advantage?" My voice rose as his had. "What am I, leverage to convince those who can't make up their minds that your side can be strong, too? That your alpha will follow tradition and choose the strongest mate? That someone on your side can outmatch the other? I won't bow down just because you want to use me. I won't be your buffer."

"You're there to stop it from turning to all out war!" He almost shouted back at me.

"It's not my war!" I retaliated. "Why the hell should I get involved?"

Charley pulled away from Sally, stomping towards me, "Because you are involved, and you can't just walk out of it."

I stood up in an attempt to keep us on the same level. "Yes I can! So far you haven't given me a good reason not to."

"Because Clayton wants it," He said angrily, put up with trying to make me change his mind and admitting to the reason he hadn't stopped pushing the issue.

"Well if Clayton wants me to do something he should damn well ask me himself."

Charley fumed, but was desperately trying to reign in his emotions. The house wasn't empty yet, people were listening and we both knew this wasn't the best conversation to gather anyone's favor with.

"You don't get it," he said, his anger once again leashed so that it did nothing but keep his words curt. "Clayton is the only thing here keeping the pack from ripping your throat out. Clayton is the only person able to stand up against Lurio and Vanessa. Clayton is the only one who can keep us safe. Clayton is the _only_ one lobbying for your god damn vampire's life." He stepped back as he let that sink in.

I kept my chin up, my face defiant. My body was stiff to begin with and I held on to that rigidness so that I wouldn't fold in on myself. He was right, damn it. Finally, he had said something I could not disagree with, could find no loop holes around. All I had was Clayton's word that he would keep me and Alucard safe. All I had was a bargain I'd made with him to let us go. I thought he was trustworthy, I thought he'd keep his word, but there is always the chance he'd change his mind. If I was not worth his protection, if I was not strong enough to take on Vanessa or if I refused to be ruled by an alpha male, what then? I could yell and scream and shout my heart out, but if Clayton decided to turn against me, all the fighting in the world wouldn't save Alucard.

Charley measured my silence. He was smart enough not to push it any further or make any snide remarks. I don't know if I would have forgiven him for rubbing it in even further that I was practically helpless without Clayton's charity. Finally, I turned my head away from him, slowly lowering myself back down to the floor. My eyes closed, my shoulders sagged. He stepped back towards Sally to leave me alone with my defeat.

The after-moon party, I didn't want to go. "Sometimes things just get to be too much so we throw a big bash and drink ourselves under the table," Charley had said. I doubted any of us would be doing much drinking tonight. I really wouldn't have minded a beer, or two, or ten. Sighing my body drooped even further.

"What do I have to do?" it hurt to say the words.

I felt the tension ease out of Charley, replaced with a mounting pile of guilt. He didn't want to force this on me. He didn't want to shove the fact that I had no choice, or leave me feeling helpless. "You… well, you look fine. Um, I don't know, find shoes?" I nodded. Shoes would be good.

With the fight officially over I felt inquisitive minds back off, I could hear the front door opening, and realized that a large group of people had been waiting on us to leave. They now had the scoop on what was going on with the new comer. Everyone would know once they got to the party. Everyone would be there waiting.

With a groan I buried my head into my arms, trying to hide from a world that just wouldn't give me a break.

Charley coaxed Sal out of her chair, and began to lead her from the room. Sally happily complied, pleased that Charley had come out ahead in the argument, and that things had been settled the way she had known they would.

I sighed to myself, unsure if I really had wanted to be left alone. I was already tired of the politics being played out around me, and the people in it, but I didn't want to be here by myself. I didn't want to feel like I was simply being used in this power struggle, that there was no personal attachment. At the same time, I was nearly certain that any possible personal attachments presently brewing would only serve to make matters even more complicated than they currently were.

This time Clayton wasn't able to sneak up on me. I could now hear, and even smell, him coming, as well as being able to constantly sense his presence. All of the wolves now stood out clearly in my mind, more so than they should have had my powers been acting regular without any interference. I refused to ponder that, instead lifting my head to greet Clay.

At first, leaning heavily on the door frame, he only stared at me. I knew I looked exhausted and spent, as if I had just struggled through a race only to come up short. So what, it was a good enough portrayal of what had happened. I took no efforts to hide the truth, and instead faced him, my face a bland statement of, "So what? What would you have me do now?"

He rolled off the wall and into a step, striding towards me until he stopped and crouched at my feet. "You watch me as if you weren't blind," he noted.

I shrugged. "Habit."

Having nothing to add, he just continued to stare. I could feel a pull to lean forward, just to be a little closer. I could think of so many ways to accidentally brush up against him, to touch skin to skin and feel the comfort it would bring. Then again, I could lean back and feel the solid door behind me. I could remember that behind it was a set of stairs that led to the man I loved, the man who I would rather touch and be held by. Whatever was happening with Clayton was just physical. Just another side effect to whichever event was causing my mind, body and powers to be so thoroughly fucked up.

Clayton waited just long enough to see if I would initiate anything, if I would bridge the gap between us. When he was satisfied that I wasn't going to move forward on my own, he offered me a hand. I didn't make any movements that would show acceptance or denial. "Come with me," he asked. I still didn't move, but this time it was because I was uncertain of just what he meant. "You said I should ask you myself," he explained.

Ah, of course he had been listening. Who hadn't been listening? "Clay, that's not what I'd meant."

"Then what did you mean?" He asked.

I struggled to put it into words. "It's not about… it's not about going to some party," I started. "It's about you sending someone to fetch me. It's about you letting him deal with me when it wasn't his responsibility. While he may have needed me to go, he didn't want to have to press it. If you want me to do something you should ask me to do it, or tell me to do it, or do whatever it is you have to do to get me to do it. Coming here after Charley already had to force the issue—use you to force the issue—what's the point?"

Of course Clayton didn't say anything at once. I began to understand his habit of taking in all the information instead of spurting out the first thing that came to mind. He wanted to be precise, he didn't want there to be any room for misinterpretation. He wanted to understand, and be understood in return.

"I thought you would prefer to go with Charley," Clayton said at last. "We do need you to go for our own sakes, but I thought if he asked, if he convinced you, you might be willing."

I shook my head. "It's not Charley's job to be in the position of forcing me."

"I didn't realize the issue would have to be forced," he admitted. "It was my mistake, and unfair to both of you. For that I'm sorry."

It was hard to stay mad at a guy who knew when he was wrong, and could not only admit to it, but honestly apologize for it. I longed for the anger over my tolerant acceptance. Anger would have let me turn down his hand, would have had me stand up on my own and begrudgingly follow him to wherever we were going. Instead he helped me to my feet, and while I quickly let go of his hand afterwards, it didn't stop the feelings from leaping between us. It didn't stop me from knowing how relieved he was that the offence had been smoothed over, how pleased he was that I would be by his side tonight. He accepted my apprehension and nerves, as well as my longing for Alucard, and was content to move past it, to work with it, or perhaps, around it.

I was not at all settled as I followed Clayton out of the house. We were the last to leave, letting the door lock after us. Everyone was already at the party. We were going to arrive fashionably late. Everyone would be waiting, everyone would be watching. Everyone would be jumping to their own conclusions based on the story of my fight with Charley, and the arrival I was about to make with Clay. I thanked whatever being invented the spell that bound back all normal signs of nerves, being grateful a racing pulse or quick, short breaths wouldn't give me away.

We headed for the woods. At the last minute I felt Clayton hesitate, then change his direction so that we instead took a path through the forest instead of his first choice, which I assumed was just walking straight through. He walked at an easy pace, something I could easily keep up with. There was no hurry or rush, but I felt that was for my benefit. Clayton wasn't the sort to stroll down beaten paths. He was more the type who would race through the woods, creating paths of his own. Because he was just trying to be kind, I didn't bother to mention I could handle tougher terrain. It was easier to just keep things simple, anyway. So what if it would take a bit longer to reach our destination. At least this way we weren't going to run into any surprises.

Then my leg hit needles.

With a hiss I froze in place, my body ridged from the unexpected surge of energy rushing up my body. Halfway through that last step I had pushed through something, an intangible wall that for most might as well not exist, but for anyone of the magically sensitive veriety, you couldn't miss it. The wall severed me above the knee, leaving the lower portion of one leg feeling as if I had sat on it too long and now, upon standing, it had to tingle back to life as an endless surge of small insects pinched every bit of it. I dabbled with the idea of pulling my leg back to this side of the wall to break off the power swelling throughout the limb, but with the realization that Clayton was feet in front of me, concerned and inquisitive, I knew that I was just delaying the inevitable. Squaring my shoulders I pushed forward.

A dam broke loss at my thigh, and the flow of energy that had previously been held back gushed into my hips, my stomach, my chest, my throat, out to my arms, then finally bulldozed into my head. My head snapped back as if I were being hit by the force of what surrounded me. The power was coming in from all sides, oozing through my pores and into every crevasse of my being. I wanted to gag on it, to choke up and force myself to cough it out.

Having once felt something similar before I knew that I couldn't try to fight it. You might as well fight your heart beat or your brain waves, might as well fight every cell that made up your body, every nutrient that fueled it. Magic made me move, made me think, made me act. I can be no more than the magic surrounding me because it is what gives me life. It just wasn't meant to be so particular. I wasn't meant to be surrounded by anything other than the natural magic that existed in every part of the world. Something like this… How do I keep ending up in places like this?

It was the type of power I had the chance to feel before, but only when brushing up against someone who stunk of it. A few black witches smell like this. Sorcerers and summoners can carry a similar musk. On rare occasions, when I had come up against something unearthly, something truly evil, I had had the chance to sense something of this degree. It was demon magic. Not demons like vampires or common bad-guy folk, but the pure demon Satan-span sort that you really, really don't want to run into.

At this moment that demon magic was coursing through me, deciding how I was going to live until I had the chance to acquire magic of a different sort. Instead of uselessly attempting to fight it off, I let it flow through me, let myself be caught up in the madness of it. I rode the power as it was forced through me, and because of my acceptance it didn't tear me up in the process.

When the magic had finally completed usurping my body, the intensity of it all backed off. Everything felt different, sounded different, smelt different, but at least I wasn't so overwhelmed to notice. The instincts that I relied on were still in place, but somehow more so. As I opened myself up to my surroundings I didn't just feel Clayton standing in front of me, I felt the tree behind him, the rocks behind that, the beaten path that twisted onward towards a cluster of power the likes of which I'd never felt before, but still somehow was entirely natural to me.

My surroundings were filled with the same magic that had taken over me. Over time the power had soaked into the earth and trees and shrubbery. The land lived off this power as well as added to it with each new plant that sprouted. This was the first time I had ever seen demon magic create life. This didn't feel evil or unnatural. It felt like the most reasonable thing in the world. The entire forest was connected, it pulsed with the power that lived here, and the people in it—just now I noticed how many people were in it—they connected, too. They also had melded into the power, embraced it, and had come out stronger for it. The magic filled them, giving each person as much power as he or she could possibly hold. Each person had melded with the beat of the forest. I could hear the pulsing coming off each of them, even from so far away.

Clayton was louder than them all.

I couldn't be sure if it was because proximity, but every instinct told me that was only half of it. For the first time since stepping into the magic I focused my attention on Clayton, and he seemed to be just what he was before—only more so. He was confident, he was strong, he was commanding, and now I didn't need to see how he acted to confirm those traits, I could smell them on him, feel them in the thump of his pulse. His heart beat with the forest, and even the forest couldn't dwarf the sound of his power.

I had the notion that this should scare me. I should feel humbled and in awe. I'll admit, I was a bit awe struck. There was the absolute certainty that if Clayton and I went at it, he would win, but I also knew that he wouldn't come out of the fight unscathed. I felt the magic inside me filling me with power, also. He could see it pulsing in me the way it pulsed in him, and while it wasn't as strong it made a distinct presence he couldn't ignore or belittle.

Deeply I inhaled, just to smell the air around me. The crisp smell of clean air, the heavy scent of sap, Small animals I couldn't yet identify but found joy in anticipating a chase after them, all of it excited me. Every sensation gave me energy and I was growing anxious with the worry of how I would let it all out.

Clayton took a step towards me, and the movement pushed his power further until it hit me square on. It was as if a strong wind had blown up and smacked into me, forcing its way into my body before rushing on. Hurriedly I inched away from him, careful not to move back out of the barrier that contained the power. The magic felt wonderful, it was intoxicating and empowering, but I didn't think I'd be able to stand any more of it forced inside of me. I was filled to the brink as it was. The idea of Clayton touching me and being connected to that much power… finally I was frightened. I wondered exactly why. Did I think it would hurt? Was I afraid I'd be caught up in it again to the point where I could focus on nothing else? Was there the memory of what it was like to touch Clayton outside of all this magic, and that I knew how it effected me without anything to make it stronger?

I inched further still, Clayton had stopped to watch. His smell had changed, the power thrummed a little higher. I knew he could sense my fear, and that he wasn't sure what to do with it. Fear means a chase, fear shows power and dominance. I had already registered his power, prior actions had implied he was dominant, but what should he do now?

I had the urge to run. It wasn't the demon in me talking, the demon wanted to settle this here, one way or another. The human didn't want to have to think through all the new thoughts and feelings going on in her head. The human wanted to get away from the confrontation and escape. I shivered, wondering if the demon was the magic that I had walked into, or something that had been there before all of this.

"Elisabeth," Clayton murmured softly. It wasn't aggressive, it wasn't intimidating. Nothing about the way he said my name should have scared me, but it did. The demon in me had the sudden urge to obey him. He was stronger than me, he was in charge, he can take anything he wants if he wanted to, but he shouldn't have to. He was my alpha, I obey him. That was my job. Even though it wasn't the way I was used to thinking, it suddenly made perfect sense. There didn't appear to be any other options than to do what I was told. "Elisabeth, we-"

I ran before he had the chance to tell me anything.

* * *

Notes: I've read over the rest of the story, and before I post anything else I'm going to fix typos and straiten up a few things. (ie, I left out half a conversation in one of the chapters… the thing about Liz needing to stay for 3 months. Happened in my head, but not on paper.)

I have to write because I'm in a writing group now. Assuming I keep up with school and work doesn't kill me I should be posting at least once a month. Don't kill me if I'm wrong.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

From the moment my feet took off I was caught up in the run. I wasn't moving the way humans moved. Even the most graceful of human runners couldn't match my ease or fluid grace as I sped through the forest. Each stride wasn't a push away from the ground, but rather towards the next footfall where I barely touched dirt before shoving off again in never ending motion. My body found a rhythm to run by, it was a side thought that noticed it was a rhythm that matched that of the magic around me.

I had never run as effortlessly. While I raced through the woods, my prior path lay forgotten as I maneuvered my way through the densely packed forest as if it were nothing. Tree branches went missing, roots avoided my feet, rocks and small bushes dashed out of my way. I didn't have to fight the woods for a clear path, it did everything in its power to give me one. I could feel the magic around me as it gently guided my movements and whispered hints. I had complete trust that it would get me through safely.

Clayton ran behind me. He never came too close to do more than warn me of his presence, always giving me the allusion of a chance to escape. There was no pressure of being chased, no warning of danger, and had I not been completely enthralled in every exhilarating movement of the run, I would have been worried. Right now there was no sense of worry, no notion of fear. I was powerful and deadly and strong. I could handle whatever came, and charged towards it unafraid.

In fact, the run was no longer an escape from what was behind me. It had become a charge towards what lay ahead. With each step the sound of hundreds of beating hearts became clearer. We were rapidly approaching the gathering, and the power of it was beginning to show. The magic had become denser, more intense, as I continued running. Instead of slowing me, however, it made me faster. I had more power to call on and in doing so I became more agile, my feet moved quicker and my body could overcome any challenge put before it. It gave me the confidence that I could face the group ahead and leave unscathed.

My confidence may have shattered as I approached had it not been for the power riding me, but even while focused on the glory of the run I couldn't ignore all of the power ahead. Clayton alone had scared me, how would I face hundreds of people? Hundreds of werewolves? While close behind me Clayton still felt stronger than anything coming, but there were so many of them. Could I handle them together? My nerves started to fray when I could sense the end of the forest approaching. A few hundred yards and I would be out of here, among all of those people. Fear jolted through me when I felt something's—someone's—attention focused on the woods. I could feel the magic bending around me in response to someone's interest in my approach.

Fighting nature itself as I changed my mind, I tripped in an attempt to slow down. With a grunt I threw my leg forward as if to catch myself, managing only to land with a jarring thud. Pain shot up my limb as the magic flared through me, ill at ease with my interruption of its natural flow. I would have been annoyed with its agitation, but was otherwise distracted when Clayton began to close the distance between us. I held myself in the awkward position of me having almost fallen over while I waited to see what he would do. I could feel the magic radiating off of him. It pressed against my back, raising the hairs on my neck to their extremes. His magic pushed past me and I could feel the power encircling me bend as he used it to prod at what lay ahead. His pace had slowed to allow him the time he needed to asses our surroundings, but when that was done he returned to focus on me. At last he was only feet behind me, able to close the distance in an instant, and all I could do was stand awkwardly like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Elisabeth," Clayton breathed, his voice a gentle brush of air and power that scared me not because of intensity, but because it was so warmly said that with a single word he managed to smooth my nerves, calming me to the point that I didn't flinch as he began to walk closer. "Elisabeth," he repeated just as softly, "no one's going to hurt you, I promise you that." His certainty was contagious, and against my better judgment I was beginning to believe him. His words wrapped themselves around me to keep me calm and centered. Even with his abundance of magic, I felt only comfort cast off from him. I knew better than to be fooled by such scrawny reassurances, but my mind was falling back into the patterns that had scared me into running in the first place. Clayton was stronger than me. Clayton was pack leader. I could either challenge him, or accept him, and there was no way I would win a challenge. Acceptance and obedience were my only options. In return he would protect me, look out for me, keep me safe. Everything human in me screamed out that I had other choices, but right now it just wasn't loud enough.

Slowly Clayton approached, and I stood still and let him. When he was close enough he reached out for me. The power radiating from him was as strong as ever, but instead of trying to run and hide I let it course through me. My gut clenched when he touched me, his hand on my arm became a catalyst for the power, which promptly tried to force itself into me. With the power rushing in it was all I could do not to panic. Every inch of me felt stuffed full and ready to burst, I thought I would explode with all the energy building up, while at the same time I was too overwhelmed to use it. My legs began to buckle as power seared them, I could feel only tingles in my arms. Clayton pulled me against him to hold me upright before I had a chance to crash to the ground.

Soft murmured words came in strings that took extra seconds to recognize. "It's okay, it's okay. Shh, come on now. Just try to relax and you'll be fine. Shh…" Clayton was genuinely concerned. Touching him had opened up a door between our minds. He could see the chaos the magic was forcing upon me, and as the shock wore off, I could feel Clayton and use his strength as an anchor for me to steady myself upon.

The power was no shock to him, he could hold it comfortably. He could hold more, if he wanted. Granted, he had never had it possess him as fully as it did me. Still, the power was a calling, a part of being Wolf. It recognized us and measured us, giving us as much as we could take. The stronger could use the power they held to support or reprimand the lesser wolves. The strong concurred, the weaker followed. The difference between me and them was that the power moved into me on its own accord. Clayton would have to force his power into any of the other wolves, using his own energy to do it. I was attracting it all on my own.

The minutes it took to regain control of myself felt like hours, but finally I was able to take a deep sigh of relief. Clayton's mind bordered my own, curious about my well being. It took two tries, but I was able to push myself away from him to stand on unsteady legs. I wasn't sure whether his uneasiness was because I still looked like a fall waiting to happen, or if it was because I was actively moving away from him. Either way, I smiled reassuringly at him and felt him relax.

Slowly I inched a careful step back, and was rewarded for my care by staying upright. I suppressed a shudder as I reigned in my worries. If I needed help again, Clayton was here. "Alright then, now that I've finished my manic episode, are there any other surprises you'd rather warn me about ahead of time?" I asked only a little pointedly.

Clayton bared a small grin, "I could ask the same thing," he pointed out in response. "Are you alright?" he asked more seriously.

I shrugged off his question. "Best that can be expected. Magic zones produce varying results, had I known this forest was cursed I'd have tried things differently."

I think it was my word choice that caused Clayton to take his own half step back. "These woods aren't cursed," he stated.

I pursed my lips for a moment, realizing how that might be offensive to someone connected so closely to these woods. Still, I could breath in this power and I knew what it tasted like. "It reeks of demon magic," I said, trying not to sound too offensive, "_pure_ demon magic. You can only find that in places riddled with black magic residue. For this much energy?" I thought for a moment, trying to grasp some sort of measurement on the magic that must have been used to produce it, "I can't even guess how much magic must have been cast here."

Gradually Clayton's mood shifted. It was as if I could feel his warm regards cool off and pull back, taking the magic with him. It was a relief to feel I had room in my body again, but as the magic leaked out of me I felt lonely without Clayton's support.

"All lot happened here," Clayton stated abruptly, continuing to distance himself from me. Instead of walking away this time, he reigned in his power and developed a wall between us that held back his magic to the point where while I could feel it there, it didn't actually touch me. It didn't take any psychic powers to tell he was upset at something. Whether or not he was upset with me, was the question. Whatever it was, he had nothing else to add. Together we stood silently, Clayton still as stone, and me rapidly returning to an insecure state. It only took a glance at me for him to realize I was growing uneasy.

Breathing in deeply he ran booth hands nervously threw his hair. Stopping halfway from finishing he held his breath and clenched his fists. I counted the seconds. 1, 2, 3… at fifteen he let go and exhaled. He had relaxed whatever nerve I had pulled on and was once again ready to move forward. Feeling it was safe to attempt peace I strode forward, walking around him till we faced each other. Before Clayton could question what I was doing I stood up on my tip-toes so I could bring my fingers to his hair. Gently I brushed out the tufts his fists had made. Still standing still, he only watched. I could feel him staring down at me, but the wall hadn't moved and I wasn't allowed into his head. When I was satisfied that his hair was back in reasonable shape I let my arms drop down.

Cautiously I offered him a hand, "Don't we have a party to be going to?" I asked. I wasn't sure how he would take my gesture; in fact I wasn't sure why I had made it. However, I had touched him skin to skin and he had found a way to block the effects. It made holding hands sound less dangerous.

Clayton didn't take my hand. It took him a moment to decide on what he'd be doing in general. Finally, he decided to step in closer to me and wrap his arm around my shoulders, causing my stomach to jump to my throat. He held there for a moment, giving me time to adjust. I tried to act compliant and nonchalant, but I think I came across more along the lines of skittish and uncertain. Clayton knew well enough the reasons, but still pulled me in closer as he leaned his head towards my ear.

"Trust me," he said, "skin to skin isn't what you want right now."

He pulled his head away as he began walking and I had no choice but to follow his lead. I had about a minute to examine the situation before we left the woods. Clayton was right, we weren't directly touching. He could hold back his magic for the moment, but I could feel its urge to spring into me. Perhaps it was harder to hold back the closer he got. Perhaps he was trying to avoid distractions as he focused on what came ahead. Perhaps he was still upset over some unknown past and any contact would let me know what it was he wasn't telling me. The drama of it all was simply nauseating, and a minute just wasn't enough to digest all that had happened since entering the woods.

Upon stepping out of it I entered a world that surpassed the wood's outlandishness. In the woods the magic had lived in the ground, growing up into trees and attaching to rocks. Now we entered a well traveled field. The grass had paths stepped into it in all sorts of angles. Some used frequently, some from a single person who had decided to take his or her own route. There was a slight incline and about a hundred yards or so it leveled out to flat land that stretched further. Here the magic was stronger than before, aided by the lives and energies of the hundreds who had gathered in the center. Leaving the woods had opened us to an assortment of new sounds and energies that somehow had been muted before. I heard laughter and singing, music and the stomp of dancing feet. The power wasn't content to lie in the pummeled ground. It jumped up and danced with the Wolves embracing it. I felt magic flying through the air, spinning and looping as it raced to greet us new comers. Magic spun around our bodies, darted between our legs, and weaved in and out of us. I grew dizzy from trying to track all of the movement surrounding us. Again Clayton leaned towards me, this time resting his cheek on my head. The contact steadied me. Clayton felt everything I did, but he knew how to handle it so that it didn't overwhelm. He was telling me that if I needed help I need only touch him and he would steady me.

Then the partying mob of semi-drunk werewolves felt the magic swaying in a new direction, and hundreds or eyes, noses, and ears took the moment to see Clayton and I drawn close to each other in a position more intimate then if I were just hugging the bastard, and I spared half a second to wonder if Clayton had done it on purpose. Then a flurry of charging, hollering mongrels distracted me from my uncharitable thoughts as the wolves ran forward in greeting. I didn't know what was happening when Clayton unlatched himself from my side and charged right on back towards his pack, but he grabbed my hand to give me a sharp yank as he took off, then let me go as I stumbled after him.

Clayton ran right into the crowd, embracing them as if they were family. I could feel the energy multiplying as he jumped from one wolf to another, wrestling a little or exchanging hugs. Still uncertain of what was happening, the crowd caught up to me. Suddenly surrounded by a crowd of people, I yelped when someone grabbed me from behind, lifting me up as he spun me around. The crowd laughed as I kicked the air fruitlessly. My mind pulsed as the man's power assaulted me. Magic leaked into me, but slower than before. There was none of the intensity I felt with Clayton. I could feel the crowd pulsing around me, but instead of the energy feeling like it was attacking, it instead lifted me up again. I felt like I had during the run, strong and in control. The crowds' effect was to welcome and encourage the magic and avoid confrontations.

Finally, the man put me down with a chuckle and just as I touched ground someone else grabbed me into a hug. "How's it going, little lady?" I knew it was Charley by his smell before I heard his voice. He sounded merrier then I'd ever heard him before, and smelt more than a little like beer. Having thought he wouldn't be drinking, I gave him more consideration. My nose was able to tell me that while he had opened a beer tonight, he'd gotten more of it on his shirt then down his throat. He wasn't the slightest tipsy, little less wasted, but he was doing a good impression of someone who wasn't quite sober.

"Charley, what's going on?" I shouted to make sure he'd hear me over the ruckus we'd been engulfed by.

Charley actually hick-upped before answering. "Well, this here's that big bash I'd promised you, see?" His accent had grown thicker, and even a hair hilly-billy-ish. "You've got a bunch of folks looking to have a good time."

I did a once over of the crowd surrounding us to find a majority of the people generally enjoying themselves. Clayton was still working the crowd, giving everyone their due. My mind singled out a few people who were stealthily keeping an eye on the crowd, on Clayton, and on me. Charley, especially, was playing body guard.

"Where'd your sweet-heart go?" I asked, unable to find Sally amongst the pack.

Charley chuckled and motioned me forwards. He stumbled on his first step, then steadied himself and kept going. "She's saving us our seats," Charley explained.

Before I could ask him what for we dispatched ourselves from the crowd, and once again I was looking over a new situation. Here there were more people, but they were in assorted clumps throughout the field. As we walked forward I grasped a better feel for the terrain, and noticed that we were now, in fact, moving ever so slightly downwards. The field slopped down only enough that you realized in, and at the very center of the bowl was were the activity was taking place. A bonfire bigger then any I'd ever witnessed had been built up, with extra wood standing ready should it be needed. There was a band of drummers entertaining the crowds, and all around the fire people danced. Beyond the dancers were people spread out on the ground. Food had been brought and laid out all around, with plenty for everyone.

The air was festive and inviting. I heard people calling out hellos to Charley from all angles. On the surface it all seemed so cheerful and friendly. Underneath, though, I felt a tension. There was a reason Charley had been drinking before we showed up, and a reason why he was now pretending to be drunk. That reason was surrounding us in the form of three men trying to be more inconspicuous then they pulled off. Just as our people had been watching us, so did theirs. Who 'they' were was up for debate, but they had people on us just the same.

We walked past groups of people singing, groups of people drinking, groups of people dancing and groups of people fighting, all while we trudged on towards the center of all the commotion. People came close, sometimes brushing against us, sometimes hugging us, and each time I had a chance to size the person up. I guessed some people approached Charley just to get a glance at me. At no point, though, did I feel the same startling pressure that Clayton had caused. I exchanged handshakes, hugs, and nudges from any number of people, and not one of them discomforted me. Walking arm in arm with Charley was the biggest notice. I could feel his magic seeping into me, but not uncomfortably. It was still more than my body wanted to take in, but it carried the same feeling as having eaten more than you should have without passing into that nauseous feeling, with your stomach still being full and secure.

The music and thumping grew louder as we walked further still. There were no longer groups of people, we had moved onto a continuous stream. People sat around smaller fires, I could smell cooking marshmallows and meat, as well as a steady supply of alcohol. The noise had grown to the point where I was again shouting to be heard. At long last Charley led me to a set of steps. I walked up to a wooden platform bare of the crowding throng. The breeze carried cool air that was a relief after being surrounded by the heat of people, but also I could feel the heat from the bonfire. I hadn't realized we'd come so close to it. The thumping of dancing feet was right ahead of us and I could hear the occasional cat call or burst of laughter from the dancers.

Again someone grabbed me from behind, and Charley stepped aside to let him hold me. Somehow Clayton had beaten us here, probably because he wasn't pretending to keep a drunkard from falling over. Now he had his arms wrapped around my waist, his face nuzzling my neck. I knew he was posing a scene because of the effort he was using to keep himself distant from me. I wondered if anyone in the crowd would notice him shielding his power from me instead of him apparently kissing my neck. Unable to do anything else, I played along, but I wasn't pretending when I tried to weasel away from him. I muttered something about him tickling me, and adopted a smile while I tried to pull away. Would the crowd see this as playful banter? Would they notice my discomfort? My mind raced as it tried to decide which it wanted to occur. I wasn't sure what Clayton wanted from me tonight, but it was becoming increasingly obvious that I was going to be set up on display.

Clayton maneuvered us backwards till we reached a low couch. It was old, lumpy, and a little moldy, but still pulled off comfortable. We fell onto it together and ended up with his arm resting across my shoulders as I leaned against him. Here I was on a platform surrounded by werewolves cuddling with a guy I hardly knew. I would have bet a million against it just days ago.

Suddenly there was a burst of cat calls on the other side of the fire. The drums stopped beating and the crowd hushed. Clayton tensed besides me. "Did you hear what they said?" a male voice shouted, "They want to see you dance!" the crowd erupted in noise, even those closest to us.

Sultry laughter rose from the crowd before Vanessa answered, "Dante, you know I don't dance alone." Something in the way she talked turned her words into an invitation to everyone in the crowd.

There were a few chuckles from the crowd, as if it were a familiar joke that hadn't quite lost its touch. "Who'd dare dance with you?" Lurio asked, "You make the rest of us look like fools with mismatched feet."

Vanessa groaned, but drew herself upright. My mind watched her as intently as any other, curious as to what show she might put on. Knowing the location of Vanessa and Lurio put some of my mind's worry at ease. Now, no matter what they did, they wouldn't be sneaking up on me.

Each footstep Vanessa took commanded attention. Her body had perfect curves, and whatever it was she was wearing took great care to extenuate every one of them. Her hips swayed as she circled the fire, and slowly the drums started to beat again. All eyes watched her as her arms rose above her head and eyes were drawn again to her hips which began to flow in a small circle, the rest of her body following suit. Each turn of her hips feel on a drum beat, and soon other drums joined in to build the music up around her. It wasn't until all of the drums had resumed playing that I realized all of this had just been a way to judge the music and the beat of the song. Now that the music was in place, Vanessa truly started to dance.

I couldn't see what she was doing, and although Clayton watched as closely as the rest of the crowd he still wasn't opening up his mind to me. I could rely only on what my mind could show me, which in itself was amazing. Vanessa used her body to bend the magic surrounding her. She created patterns with it that moved in ways just as beautiful as she did. The crowd watched her because she was dazzling, sexy, and could control the magic that influenced them. All of us were drawn into how she shaped our world with her body. I had fought against her, but I had never realized she had that much grace and power. She knew how to use her body to manipulate magic itself. I was drawn more to watching the way she did it then to trying to see the dance itself.

She circled the fire with sensual ease, twisting all of us a little closer to her. Her dancing wasn't just about sex, though there was plenty of that there, it also was a call to power. The Wolf inside of every pack member could recognize the power almost more than the sex. Vanessa was feeding off ours, building it up, and pumping it back into us by her movements.

With a twirl Vanessa stopped moving, freezing in the perfect frame that allowed everyone's gaze to travel her body. Her eyes, though, stared directly to my right, gazing up at Clayton as the soft drum beats held everyone's attention taunt.

"I hate to dance alone," Vanessa confessed to us all in a soft, luscious voice, "join me?"

I sat as still as Clay as the invitation hung in the air. Anyone in the audience would have jumped at such a request, but Vanessa's steady gaze kept Clayton pondering in his seat. Vanessa was trying to get something out of this, and Clayton knew it. Her dance was about the power around her, and while I knew nothing of Clayton's skills as a dancer, I knew he could bend the power as well as she did. She couldn't be trying to make him look bad, because it simply wouldn't happen. The thought struck me that maybe she was trying to make him look good. Clayton had forced a scene upon his arrival. He had acted intimate with me, had shown us off as a couple. Right now everyone thought something was going on between Clayton and I. It wasn't true, though, just perception. But that perception gave Clayton power while simultaneously jabbed at Vanessa. She was the head bitch of this pack, and were she doing her job right, Clayton would be with her. And there she stood in front of us, a vision of power and sex ripe for his taking. He couldn't turn her down without bluntly offending her in front of everyone, everyone who currently was in awe of her, but he couldn't except without offending me.

Vanessa wasn't challenging Clay with her question, she was challenging my hold over him, she was challenging my ability to hold a crowd. If I were so easily tossed aside by a dance, what would I do when the real politics came out?

I planted a hand on Clayton's shoulder as he began to move, stopping him in his tracks. I tried to replicate Vanessa's grace as I rose to my feet, drawing all eyes to me. Aware of the attention I struck my best seductive pose usually reserved for Alucard alone, and grinned charmingly at Vanessa, although it was meant solely for the crowd.

"Go easy on me," I implored. "It's my first time."

It was my turn to raise cat calls as I strode off the platform, my head held high as if I actually knew what I was doing. I could still taste the smell of Clayton's surprise, and no noise came from the dumfounded crowd I left behind. Vanessa took this new development in stride, allowing herself an overlarge grin as she considered the things she could do to me now that I had singled myself out. Doubt nagged me, questioning why I'd been so stupid to say anything at all, but I had, and now I had no choice but to do something about it.

"Well now," Vanessa shouted, "What a dance we'll have tonight!" The crowd roared in response, and without any warning the drums sped up, and Vanessa had launched herself into a pattern of movements I couldn't follow.

I have had a history of dancing. I originated in London, part of a middle class family that had enough money to send me off to boarding school where you could bet your ass I learned to dance. However, the ridged nineteenth century lessons that had everything to do with being proper couldn't help me here. I doubted my flawless ability to waltz around a room or the large number of dances I have memorized to the step would impress this crowd. They wanted sexy, powerful improve. In modern days I'd developed into a punk rock, mosh-pit-loving, step dancing queen. Somehow that didn't add up to quite the right combination.

Nevertheless, I smirked at Vanessa's dance. Again she'd gained the attention of the crowd as she produced dancing worthy of our time's leading pop music stars. I waited as she danced, showing off for the crowds. I waited and listened to the music, thankful that there was more to me then what had occurred over the last two centuries.

In addition to my other achievements, there was a time when I danced to drums. The music was different, the intentions altered, but the similarity was enough to bring back the memories needed for what was coming. I waited until Vanessa finished her dance and turned to me, believing she was triumphant due to my stillness.

Her grin didn't falter for a second when she saw me. Nothing physically changed at all. But while I stood there, confident as ever, staring at the strongest female in this pack, I took in all of her power, and I was not scared. My sureness alone was the first thing that damped her resolve. While no one could see it in her appearance, we could all taste it in the air. Suddenly, just from looking at me, we could all tell she was unsure. I allowed my smile to widen just a tad, and as I stepped forward towards Vanessa the crowd began to know why.

Power slipped out of me when I moved, but it was controlled power just as Vanessa's had been. Magic began to swell around me, and there was more of it there than Vanessa had produced. I could taste the magic around me, Wolf, but something more than Wolf. That something else held such power that our audience was beginning to realize that this was more than just a game. Vanessa wasn't being given the opportunity to tease some average pack member. A not so average pack member was getting the opportunity to stick it to her.

I slid in steps that hadn't been performed on Earth for two thousand years as if I'd done them yesterday. My movements were light, but definite. It was obvious I was moving to make a point, with every limb precisely where I wanted it, but at the same time my body glided as if it were being guided by some greater force surrounding me. The magic around me twisted to accentuate the dance, making it appear as if it were leading my movements, which had been the original intent. I was performing a dance of worship. The dance wasn't worshiping some god or greater being, but the magic surrounding us that was part of everything. The magic gave knowledge and power, and this dance put on display how it was possible to shape it, and be shaped by it in return. No movement was made to imply sex, but my body was being flattered constantly, and I knew it made me look even more beautiful when I appeared to not even realize the effect I had on others.

I danced for the crowd, half my mind lost to what I was doing, and the other half carefully keeping track on the reactions I received. There was none of the loud shouts and cheers that Vanessa had received, but the crowd was still enthralled in what I performed. They were perhaps even more impressed due to the fact that they had never seen anything quite like it. The crowd was thriving with approval, and I could sense Vanessa's fury that I hadn't managed to bugger it up.

I put Vanessa out of my mind, though. She may be angry, but she wasn't stupid. I had the crowd behind me now, she would have to turn them before she could attack me, or risk their disproval. She didn't want them believing she wouldn't play fair. Meanwhile, I could feel Clayton's gaze on me. His eyes managed to stand out from all the others. His entire section of the crowd felt awed, amazed, and relived, but Clayton's personal views were still shielded from me. I only had the knowledge that he watched me intently. There was only one person who watched even closer.

I came to the point in the dance where I had to stop. This dance wasn't normally performed by one person a lone, but rather by many individuals. At certain parts in the dance those involved would join together in pairs or larger groups, depending on numbers. The symbolism behind that was actually that magic and knowledge sometimes needs more than one person to reach its full potential. Similarity, the dance always looks more amazing when the numbers increase, but only when everyone knew the moves, and could dance together immaculately.

I felt Lurio watching me, as I had while he approached. Now he stood right in front of me, both hands held out for me to accept. Unease engulfed me. The consequences of me sharing my victory over Vanessa with her leading man could vary in their intensity, but there was something else that scared me more than all the dangers of the pack. Lurio would know the dance moves I had been performing, and in knowing them it proved what I had already reluctantly known. Lurio, like me, had his soul borrowed by our Lurian counter parts. Somehow, like me, he had some memory of what had happened in our past lives. Like me, he knew that the feud between us was centuries old.

So why was he offering to dance?

I took his hands without an answer, and off we went. Almost instantly our minds threatened to connect and create a bond between us. Together we threw up whatever barriers we could find to avoid that. Together we danced around the fire, moving fast and fiercely. My graceful gliding had disappeared, replaced by antagonistic stances and intimidating pivots. Touching Lurio was uncomfortable. Hostile power squirmed under his skin. It wanted to sink itself into me, not to be comforting as Clayton had been, but to fill me with such seething pain that I would beg for it to overfill and burst me just to end it. The crowd could feel our animosity, and if anything, it made the dance stronger. Power sang around us, growing with each step. Our dance demanded that our differences be laid on the table. It showed us for what we were. We danced as one, making a beautiful vision despite the enmity, as only those deeply connected could do. Yet there was no denying we had taken a stand, and unless they did too, there would be no good graces from either of us. We gave no middle ground.

I felt the power growing around us as Lurio guided me into a spin. Momentum and magic carried me in circles as Lurio led me around him. The magic was following the patterns we'd lined out for it, and was now too strong for me to stop had I wanted to. I continued to move as the magic pressed down on me, pressuring itself against me skin. Gradually I began to feel as if it were another person's magic pushing against my barriers. It began to sneak into my body, once again pushing the limits of how much I could hold. The pressure against me made me glad I didn't need to breathe, because I wasn't sure I would be able to. I continued twirling for the dance, but was only growing dizzy by the process. I felt like kneeling over or collapsing in on myself, anything that would prevent the magic from invading. Lurio's grip on me had tightened, however, as if he could sense my control was slipping. I gave up on shielding against him entirely as I focused my energy on trying to find a way to block off the rest of the power. It turned out to be the wrong move.

Lurio had been waiting for just that moment, apparently more aware of my situation than I had given him credit for. The instant my barriers were down his power attacked. Instead of a trickle of magic, power surged into me, flooding my body with prickly needles that stabbed into everything. I wanted to scream out, but even with the attack in progress, Lurio was still able to hold the magic steady around us, leading me on with the dance without giving me a chance to stop it. The pin-prickling turned into jabbing needles tearing at my skin. I felt like there were thousands of small, dull knives being stabbed into me, then pulled in all directions to stretch out already painful wounds. It wasn't until my head was pounding so loud that I couldn't think, and my hand and feet felt like they were being incinerated just from being touched, that Lurio let me go. I couldn't single out the moment Lurio released the magic around us and let go of my hands, but the instant I hit the packed ground beneath me I knew it. Every inch that touched ground was afire from the additional pressure added to it. I was reduced to lying helpless on the ground, completely unaware of what was happening around me. My only saving grace was that I didn't scream.

After the initial heave of excruciating pain, the effect actually started to wear off. My mind took its time sorting itself out to the point where I could once again examine my surroundings. For a test, I twitched my finger, to see how my body would handle movement. It was as if I twanged a nerve, I could feel a piercing pain all the way up my arm. Aw, well, though. I'd just have to suck it up and get to my feet anyway.

I must not have been down too long, because the crowd and Lurio were still watching me. Lurio hadn't moved from my side. I'll admit, it took more than a fair amount of effort to get to my feet, and my feet took the bulk of the pain, having been abused during the initial power surge that took place during the dance. I felt like I was standing on needles that had been stabbed in an inch deep. The rest of me wasn't particularly better. Still, I stood up straight and turned back to Lurio.

"Thank you," I tried to say, but my voice had become hoarse and the words didn't quite come out. I swallowed once, twice, and then attempted to clear my throat. "Thank you," I croaked again. "The dance was lovely."

My calm exterior raised murmurs from a crowd that had some idea of what I just went through. I probably looked like hell, but I had about thirty seconds to convince the crowd that I was actually A-okay. It wouldn't do any good to have them lose faith in my ability to command a situation. I didn't know just what had happened, or how the pack would consider it, but I didn't want the chance that my victory over Vanessa would be forgotten.

After a quick, and somewhat sloppy, curtsy to Lurio, I turned my back on him in an attempt to look sure of myself and faced the crowd, doing a little twirl in the process to show I was still festive. "Come on now," I called out in a voice that had almost returned to me, "I need another partner! Who wants to dance and have some fun!"

My feigned excitement was preferred over the dreary prospect of this party turning into a power struggle between battling werewolf sects. Immediately the cry was taken up by the crowd, and there was a rush of people who wanted to come dance with me. Certainly more then I could accommodate, and just as I had hoped the dancing had become a bigger topic then me. After a quick performance for those who had fought for spots nearby me, I honestly said I was quite exhausted, and if they wanted to see me dance more at all they'd let me retire now. I left laughing merrily to return to my seat. I had to keep the cheerful face on while I pressed through the crowd. So many people stopped me to introduce themselves, or to try to convince me to dance more, or to just shake my hand or give me a hug. I didn't dare offend anyone, though my head was buzzing the whole time. I didn't remember a name given to me or a scent out on display.

When I finally managed to get into open space I took a deep breath just to taste the clean air. Clayton was on the platform right in front of me, and I fought back a desire to run and hide behind him. There were still inquiring minds surrounding me, but something held them at bay. I took another breath and sent out a silent thank you to whatever it was right before said person grabbed my arm and yanked me back and away from the platform.

Noise raised in volume and people moved in reaction to what happened between me and the mystery girl who had hold of me. None of it meant anything as time slowed down for me. I had all the time in the world to decide what I was going to do next. This wasn't a magic struggle, or some way to outsmart the other person in a show of dominance. This was straight up hand-to-hand combat, and quite frankly, I had that one down.

My first move was to twist my arm out of the hold she had on me while I stepped back and away to give me room. A circle of people backed up as well to stay out of our way. Others tried to press forward around them and interrupt our fight, but first the girl, now across from me, stepped forward to punch me. I moved forward at the same time. My left arm rose to block her right from punching me as my left leg stepped out and aside, past her legs. In the same lunge I punched her in the chin. She let out an "oaff," and grabbed the arm I'd punched her with. Again I twisted my arm out of hers, but while doing that this time I also brought my right leg forward so that I could jam it behind hers, hitting her at the knee, and sweeping her onto the ground. She fell on her back as I'd intended, and I grabbed her arm to swing her around under me before placing my knee on her abs to hold her down. It had all happened in a second, and it wasn't until I stopped to wait for her to look up at me that I heard the shouting.

Vanessa and Lurio had yelled together, "Stop!" but I didn't need to listen to either of them.

Still I waited until the girl looked at me. I was poised in position to punch down into her face, but I didn't begin to move until her eyes looked up and met mine. I could feel the exact instant she realized what I planned to do, and then my arm began to move.

"Elisabeth," Clayton said. My fist paused an inch from the girl's face. "Elisabeth, let her go."

Beneath me the girl began to snicker, and then began to laugh. I could feel her shaking under my knee. She didn't even struggle against me. I sat still, remaining paused right before a punch. Even from an inch away I could still break the girl's nose should I choose to resume my movement.

"She attacked me," I stated.

"I know," Clayton acknowledged, "but I'm telling you: let her go."

I pursed my lips. Clayton was telling me. Clayton was stronger than me. I had to obey Clayton. Then again, Lurio was stronger than me, he'd just proved that. I had no intention of obeying Lurio. What was the difference? Clayton was stronger? I began to grow tense with the urge to get up and pace. Either that or punch the girl in the face. Her laughter was only growing louder. And it sounded… off.

"She _attacked_ me," I repeated. The point felt relevant, even if I didn't fully comprehend why.

Clayton did. "Liz, I know," he sounded so understanding it would have annoyed me had I not needed to hear it. He paused for a moment, as if debating repeating himself. "Please. I'm asking you. Let her go."

I closed my eyes and lowered my head. He was learning how to deal with me, and it was frustrating. I actually wanted to listen to him now. He had been down right nice about it. At the same time, the girl beneath me was so seriously, undeniably off. She sounded wrong, approaching manic. I could smell something about her, something tainted, that didn't belong here and was increasingly unpleasant. I understood why people had kept a distance from her. Even touching her made me feel unclean. The smell told me more than anything. Some part of my brain registered it. There was something about her that was wrong. Simply put, she was literally insane. How, or why, was beyond me, but she even felt twisted. My mind agreed with the smell. It made me want to back away and wipe my hands on something. Then again, it also made me want to punch her in the face, just to be sure. Generally, she just carried an unpleasant aura that encouraged people to act unpleasantly back.

At the same time, though, something about her felt familiar. My mind was able to touch on a point, underneath everything else, the registered differently. The more I focused on it, the more familiar it felt, until I was able to recognize what had been so obvious in other girls I had encounter over the last two years. Right after recognition clicked I let go of her and jumped back and away towards Clayton. The more I thought about it, the more ill I felt over the subject.

I turned to Clayton, seeking someone who would know just what she was. "She's-" I paused, not wanting to say something that everyone might not know. I stuck with something that was so obvious they couldn't miss it. "she's insane," I said.

Clayton stared at me hard, aware of my change in wording, but unsure of what I meant to have said. "Hush," he commanded as he stepped forward to block me from anyone else who might bother to attack. Suddenly I was surrounded by Clayton's followers, Charley among them. Relief flooded me to know that I was safe between them.

Vaguely I registered Vanessa yelling at Clayton about me attacking the girl. Apparently no one was supposed to touch her. It was unfair to attack the crazy girl. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that didn't seem right though. The girl hadn't been weak or impaired magically. I had brushed with her power, smelt her scent. The more I listened to the conversation and compared my experiences with the rest of the tribe, the more firmly I believed that this girl was actually stronger than Vanessa. If they went at it, the girl would win.

I turned to Charley, about to ask about it, but his hand conspicuously moved to cover my mouth. He made no effort to hush his voice when he said, "We don't talk about Catherine in public." Frustrated, I turned back towards Vanessa's yelling. It became clear, though, that she was just venting over the situation more than anything else, and nothing she would say would provide me any help.

Again I turned, now to face empty space itself as I held my tongue from voicing the biggest news of the night.

She was a Slayer. A crazy, werewolf Slayer.

How could anything else that had happened tonight out perform that?

* * *

Okies, no one's reviewing so I'm thinking up other people to thank: 

The writers guild: Thanks for helping me on the first few pages of this chapter. It really helped me get through the rest of it.

My friend Dave: His band recorded a few songs that were pretty much what I listened to while writing this.

Thanksgiving break: That gave me enough time to get relaxed so I could work on all of this stuff.

To anyone who reads this: Because at least it's being read :)


	10. Chapter 10

So, I edited the second to last paragraph. It's not terribly important, but I had a sudden thought that I got a detail wrong, and I went to check the first story, and it turns out I was right. Again, not horribly important. You prolly wouldn't even notice the change.

* * *

Chapter 10

Groggily I rolled over, twisting covers around me as I did so. I sunk further into the mattress as I slowly approached the center, wondering all the while how broken springs managed to make the mattress more comfortable. Today I didn't bother wondering how many hours I had spent in bed, or if anyone would care that I didn't come downstairs to socialize.

It had been nearly two weeks since the full moon, and since the party hardly anyone had attempted being social to me. They weren't avoiding me, or collectively bearing a general dislike for my presence. It was worse than that. Of all things, I could sense an overwhelming sense of awe, occasionally accompanied by the sickly sweet smell I had since learned to associate with fear. Something I had done had impressed and scared them to the point where the werewolves always happened to stay at least an arm's length away, and while I could always feel eyes staring, there was never anything more than that.

It was easy to miss Charley. He had been the lone figure who treated me no differently then ever. Up until he had to leave to return to the real world and resume the life he led during the majority of the month when he wasn't furry, he had gone out of his way to chat with me or keep me entertained. I even missed Sally, who followed Charley along with utter devotion. She was gruff and possessive, but when she wasn't being a pain in the ass, she acted so innocently that when she happened to spit out some profanity I always found myself surprised by it. It was a daring split personality that somehow fit.

However, the big question was, did I miss Clayton? He'd been gone on some sort of business for four days, and hadn't said a word to me of when he'd be back. By no means had he been avoiding me while he'd been here, but even with him standing right at my side, he was remarkably distant. Not once did he attempt to touch me, or discus anything relevant. I was so tired of his small talk that when he would enter a room I often got up to leave it. That had been just the case the morning he had left. He'd come into the kitchen for breakfast, and feeling his attention focus on me for a moment, I stood up from my chair and determinedly marched out of the room, up the stairs, and into the bedroom donated to me since being emptied of the swarm of people who'd left the day after the party, just as suddenly as they had come in.

Not for the first time I wondered if he would have told me where he was going, when he'd be back, or answers to any of the other questions circling my head. Even though I despised the simple conversations I had endured with Clayton, not having them at all made things worse than before. A part of me wished for a relaxed moment with him when we could just talk, get to know each other, get comfortable with each other. A very different part didn't dare approach the subject. It didn't know what would come after being comfortable with Clay. It didn't want Clayton trying anything, or getting any ideas. Life could be much simpler if Clayton and I just stayed away from each other. Both parts of me realized that was very unlikely, and the battle in my head of what I should do about it was obnoxious indeed.

I rolled over again, thrashing at my blankets in the process and kicking my legs until they untangled themselves from the bedding, as if taking my frustration out on blankets would make it dissipate. Instead it had rolled me onto my stomach, where I miserably moped about what lay ahead for me today. Or rather, what didn't.

Every other day I found a Tupperware container filled with almost-fresh blood on the bottom shelf in the fridge. Charley had pointed it out to me the day after the party, and told me when to check for it. He let me know that after finding it I would be allowed to take it down to Alucard and spend some time with him. I was never allowed too long of a visit. After half an hour or so, someone would knock on the door to the kitchen and I would begrudgingly say goodbye to Al before making my way back upstairs. Although I could see him becoming slightly more ragged every visit, Alucard never complained. He accepted his meal, spent time with me, and waited until I was gone to drink it. Longingly I wished it was tomorrow already, so that I could see Al again. He never stared at me the way the wolves did, or acted afraid. He talked to me in his normal, carefree, sardonic manner which was so nice to hear after the short, forced conversations with Clayton. Every day I sat cuddling with Alucard I wondered how I could be nervous about being near Clay. Alucard cleared all my doubts away by just being himself, and I loved him all the more for it.

Then I would leave the stairwell, and be living once again amongst the werewolves. Days would tick by slowly, and I had next to nothing to do to fill my time. Either on a couch in the living room, or lying jumbled up in bed, my mind would wonder. I found myself thinking just as much of Clayton as I did of Alucard, and despised myself for it.

What the hell was I doing wasting all my time moping in bed? Nothing good would come of pondering unwanted thoughts. It just encouraged them. What I needed was a distraction that would shut them up. I sighed against a pillow, knowing damn well that a distraction that fantastic was so unlikely that simply pondering its lack of possibility would only send me into further gloom. Then again, perhaps Clayton would come back today. If he did he would certainly come to see me at some point, wouldn't he? He had to be at least curious about how I was faring. Not that there was any cause for me to be worse off then when he'd left. Nothing had happened here, and with that stunning fact added to how poorly I'd treated him prior to his departure, Clayton was more likely to return my favor and avoid me entirely. If I didn't venture out into the house I probably wouldn't have any sign at all that things had changed. It was just another reason that I should get up.

Sighing again, I rolled back into the center of the bed, pulling the covers with me as I went. Apparently, reasons weren't good enough. I still didn't feel like moving, and that really was what settled the matter. Besides, I really was being melodramatic. Life hadn't been too dreadful these last few weeks. Clayton hadn't been too horrible. My visits with Alucard were strait-up wonderful. I just hated being bored. That really was what it came down to. How was I going to survive another dreary week? Little less two. Well, I guess surviving wouldn't be the issue. Perhaps keeping my wits about me and not going insane should be the goal. Yes, that sounded much more realistic. Stay here two weeks being utterly bored, and not go mad. At least by then, if the world deemed it time to stop throwing me curve balls and mucking up my life, Alucard and I could get the hell out of here.

Either that, or I turn furry. However, that was still not a credible alternative, so my policy has remained to rule it out entirely. Almost.

I slammed my fist into the pillow, which could probably plead convincingly that I over abused it. I was not turning furry. I was not going crazy. I was not going to be so desperately bored that I dwelled on whatever negativity I could dig out of the crevasses in my brain. I was not going to worry about my reactions to Clayton, or even think about him at all. I was tired of all of that. And worst of all, without something else to do, I don't think I would be able to get it all out of my mind.

Knock, knock, said my door.

I was so surprised by the sound, I hardly recognized where it came from. No one had knocked on my door since I had been given the room. No one had gone out of their way to find me since Charley had left town. I sat up enough to face the door, curious about who could be on the other side of it. None of my senses could divulge that secret from here, though. To find out the answer I had to crawl out of bed, slip on a pair of shorts to make myself presentable, and looking as if I had just awoken, crack the door open to observe my visitor.

I must admit, I was both surprised and disappointed that it was Clayton. Instead, the visitor was a younger werewolf who had been around the house regularly, but had never spoken with me. I could smell his nervousness as he stood there, uncertain of how to address me. His weight shifted from one foot to the other, and he was absent-mindedly allowing his left hand to fidget.

"Ms. B-blake," he stammered, I was more concerned with the 'Ms' part. Who called me Ms.? "Excuse me, ma'am, but you have a visitor." Ma'am? I at least looked the same age he must be. I doubt he realized my frown was because of his choice in diction, and regretted it when he began to feel even less comfortable.

Aw, well. It never pays to punish the errand boy. "Visitor?" I repeated, simply clueless on who it might be. "Who?"

He shuffled his feet again. "Um, Ms. Fincher," he replied.

I held back a sigh as I repeated, "Who?"

"Uh," he was becoming even more uncomfortable. "Vanessa?" He sounded more nervous then ever, now being worried over what would happen if I didn't recognize that name.

Apparently my expression reassured him that wouldn't be an issue. "Oh." The tone used with that one word said enough. Instantly his tension began to ease. I knew who he was talking about, and I didn't like her either. It helped to reassure him. "Just give me a moment, kay?" Despite the fact that I couldn't see him, he nodded his acknowledgement, and I wondered if the wolves here knew I could sense what they were doing, or if the kid just wasn't thinking about his actions.

Quickly, I shut the door and retreated back to the center of my room. My luggage had been brought over for me, and currently clothes were scattered in a collection of piles due to the fact that in my utter boredom I had lacked the energy to tidy up. Now, after being given the ultimate distraction of interacting with enemies, I cursed my earlier laziness. Of all things, at the moment I was concerned with what I would wear. It sounded horrible, prissy, and a little cliché, but I wanted to make a good impression on the big bad wolf and any flunkies she'd drag into the situation. While a pajama top and running shorts would certainly say I didn't give a damn what she thought of my fashion sense, I didn't want any weaknesses going into this encounter.

If only I knew which piles I'd thrown the clothes I wanted into.

I gave myself five minutes to assemble the correct attire. Any more would be discourteous, if not down right offensive, and any less would have left me going downstairs with mismatched socks and a shirt on backwards. Instead, I had on a carefully planned outfit, which sadly didn't leave me looking stunningly beautiful, but it served other purposes. The dark green street shoes were well worn, but comfortable. I could run or walk in them for any decent stretch of time. Besides, they looked good beneath the brown, hip hugging, cargo-style pants that were designed to fit a girl as well as any set of jeans. Extra pockets were practical, as well as stylish, allowing me to hide all sorts of goodies in what appeared to most to be simple decoration. The top was course, thick cotton, with sleeves that were designed to be three fourths the length of my arms, but wearing it that way annoyed the hell out of me. Instead I pushed the sleeves up pass my elbows, which left it feeling comfortable. The neck line was exaggeratingly wide, showing plenty of my shoulders, but it didn't go down too far, leaving my breasts concealed. Most particularly, it wasn't form fitting, and rather hung loose enough to make one question weather or not it was designed for a guy. Another useful concealment feature. The color was another shade of dark green, which helped bring out the red in my hair. The whole effect was nothing special, simply casual. I could have thrown it on in a minute. What was underneath it was more important.

The werewolf had waited outside my door while I had dressed, then once I stepped out of my room he quickly motioned for me to follow him. Together we made our way down the stairs, passed the kitchen, through the living room, and strait to the front door. I wasn't sure what he was doing as he went through the process of unlocking the door, but it was a lengthily process. "Sorry about the wait," he said apologetically, "but Clayton would have killed me if I let her in." It took me a second to realize that there was no sarcasm in that statement. Clayton took his security seriously. Helping someone break through it would be a reason to kill. Before I could ponder that, he finished unlocking the door, and quickly pulled it open.

A gentle breeze from outside drifted in, carrying with it numerous scents, including that of Vanessa, but none of my senses could reach out past the house's threshold. I had to rely on my senses of smell and hearing to place exactly where Vanessa stood. With my senses being as exaggerated as they were, that wasn't hard. I could hear her breathing forward and slightly to the right, and turned to face her accordingly.

"Vanessa," I said as a greeting, managing a brilliant smile that looked too authentic to be convincing. Give me some credit, I had a hundred years to learn how to bullshit with the best of them.

"Elisabeth, dear," Vanessa replied, sounding so amiable it actually threw me off for a second. "I was hoping you would be in."

It wasn't the words so much as the tone that made me hesitate before saying something in return. It wasn't often that I ran into a bad guy—or in this case, bad girl—who went out of his or her way to appear warm and gracious. Then again, if she was going to play that game…

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" My smile hadn't flinched.

I couldn't see her, but her words sounded as genuine as mine had. "It's my girls, really," she said. "They've been begging and badgering me all week for a chance to meet with you. Everyone's so excited to see a new face around here. With all the insisting I just couldn't say no to them. I had to promise I'd invite you to come join us for lunch today."

Mentally I stepped back a space. First of all, who allowed her to have kids? Vanessa just didn't seem the motherly type. Maybe they weren't her children. Didn't she live in a house for the pack's women? Yes, that had to be it. She must be talking about the girls that lived with her. Next, they wanted to meet me? From what I could gather from town, they were quite used to seeing new faces on occasion. Just, normally, the new people had been brought in by someone trustworthy. Lastly, did she really think I would leave the house? If the wolves here were allowed to open the door while Clayton was gone it must mean that Vanessa couldn't get in by the door being open. If she wanted to get at me I would need to come out. But what in the world would make me agree to that? I could think of a few bad reasons. Bad reasons that were looking pretty reasonable right now.

"Vanessa, stop flattering me," I said, covering my face as if I were blushing a little and didn't want her to see. "How could I refuse such an invitation?" I felt the wolf behind me manning the door once again grow uneasy. My smile still held strong.

"You mean it, you really will come?" How did she manage to sound so hopeful and harmless?

I didn't hesitate in the slightest. "Of course I will." Stubbornly I refused to realize how deep into a bad situation I had just dug myself into.

"Wonderful!" She exclaimed. "Are you able to come now? Or should I come back later?"

"Oh, I can be out in just a minute," I said. "Would you mind if I grabbed my purse?"

"Of course not," she said.

Finally I let my smile relax a little, "Good, I'll be right back." Without another thought I backed up into the house. The door shut without any direction from me, and the moment it closed I grabbed the nearest piece of furniture to lean against. "Oh, hell," I muttered.

"Ms. Blake?" asked the wolf.

"Elisabeth, please," I requested. The wolf didn't say anything, so I took a brief moment to think about what I was going to do before turning around to face a room which had suddenly become crowded with all the wolves in the house. I took a deep breath simply to relax, then stood up straight to address them. "Someone go up to my room and grab the brown purse from the grey duffle bag in the corner." I woman I didn't even know ran off to grab it. "Um, I don't know how long this is going to take, or what's going to happen. Realistically, give me about two hours before you start raising any alarms, or do whatever it is you do in emergencies." I figured that covered the basics.

"Do you expect an emergency?" Asked an older man who had come in from the kitchen.

I turned to him. "Well, she hasn't tried to kill me yet, so I suppose that lessons the likelihood."

"She's sleeping with Lurio," said a girl from the stairs. The silence from the rest of the room confirmed the statement, and we all knew how much Vanessa's sex life actually mattered in this scenario. The pack leader gets the strongest she-wolf. Did it work the other way around? Was Vanessa saying Lurio was in charge? Would she turn me over to him if asked to?

"I might be able to take Vanessa in a fair fight," I said hesitantly. "I've held off Lurio in the past," I continued. "If they take me on together they're both cheating, and at least then Clayton will have an excuse to kill them after I die." It seemed like the sort of politics werewolves were rumored to have.

I accepted the purse held out to me by the girl who had just then gotten back. I stayed an extra second to see if anyone had a reply, but the pack was silent. I knew that every one of them was uncertain about letting me leave with Vanessa, but at the same time, not one of them dared to say anything directly to me about it. I nodded to the group instead of saying farewell, and the wolf opened the door for me to let me outside where Vanessa was still patiently waiting.

It felt odd to step over the threshold. I felt like I was moving from one world into another. As my body crossed some invisible line each piece of it became aware of the outside world, and lost contact with the house behind me. I was able to feel the precise local where Vanessa stood, as well as the two other werewolves sitting some distance away in a car. Slowly my mind gave me a sense of my surroundings. I didn't move until I had a clear image of the area.

Vanessa watched me intently as I took stock of everything. I had the not-so-subtle feeling that she was using this as an opportunity to study an adversary. Maybe she had even set it up for that reason. She wanted to know just how well I could handle myself. Now it was my turn to decide just what to show her.

For instance, I could have walked to the car on my own without falling on my face, but I waited until she offered an arm and we walked together down the porch steps and to the driveway. She opened the car door for me, and even steered me into it so that I didn't do anything stupid like not actually sit on the seat. I murmured the appropriate thanks as I took my seat.

The two werewolves in the car were both men. The one sitting in the driver's seat paid me no noticeable attention. I had expected him to at least glance at me as I entered the car, but instead his concentration was on the area surrounding the house and car. I would have known him as the body guard even if he hadn't been big and buff. The second sat to my left. He had turned his back to his door and propped his right foot up on the seat so that he was more comfortable watching my approach. Now, with him so close, his steady gaze felt almost tangible as he examined me. I made no movements to acknowledge his attention, instead facing forward, one leg crossed over the other, my hands in my lap.

Vanessa slid herself into the front passenger seat, and the car engine started.

I allowed the silence to stretch out between the four of us. Vanessa didn't glance back at me once, but instead sat with great poise, her shoulders straight, one arm laid across the arm rest. The driver was born into the strong, silent guild, and as such still hadn't noticed I existed. Only the man next to me continued to make me the focus of his attention. I continued to pretend he wasn't there. Unanimously we kept to our own, respective worlds, hearing only the occasional bird chirp and the continuous hum of the car engine. Luckily the ride was short, else I might have begun to cramp up from stillness, having stubbornly refused to move about, less it attract attention and I was forced to converse.

The man beside me was opening his door before the car had even stopped moving. The driver glanced at him as he did it, and suddenly pushed hard on the breaks, interrupting the nature decrease in speed with a hard jerk. The man didn't even stumble as he continued out of the car, pushing the door shut easily behind him as he began to walk around the vehicle. The driver pursed his lips, but said nothing as he put the car into park and began to get out himself. Vanessa was already gliding to her feet, although before she was even standing the man who had been sitting next to me was opening my door. I turned to face him at the sound. He stood for a moment, waiting for me to move. I continued to sit, unsure of what would be appropriate here. Before the moment passed into awkwardness I took the initiative to stand up. The man snapped into action once I started moving by taking hold of my arm to guide me to my feet. He placed my arm on his so that I would continue to have a guide.

"Hullo," he said pleasantly.

I opened my mouth to say hello back, but Vanessa spoke first.

"This way, please," she directed, motioning for us to follow. The driver walked directly behind her, followed then by my partner and me.

We strolled up a curved sidewalk, one that I recognized as belonging to Vanessa's house. All four of us entered the house, so apparently these two men were allowed in. I was led through the entry room, past a particularly fragrant kitchen, and into a room beyond. My escort walked me to a fluffy chair that I obediently sunk into, then stood behind me to my left. Vanessa sat in front of me, probably with a table between the two of us, with the other man standing behind her.

On cue two women walked into the room. One carried a plate filled with sugary foods and what smelled like Earl Grey. She set it on the table, then left the room. Meanwhile, the other two women took their seats on either side of me.

"Elisabeth, I would like to introduce Natalie, my second," Vanessa motioned to her left, "and my very good friend, Jezebel," then to her right. I nodded and murmured a "how do you do" to each in turn while the man who had been standing behind me stepped forward to pour me a cup of tea. He then brought it to me and made sure that I had a firm grip on it before stepping back into position. A body guard with butlering skills. Who'da thunk it.

After everyone helped themselves to the tray, Vanessa continued speaking. "I've invited these two here because I thought they would be able to best help you to understand our current situation. Our pack is dealing with complications, of which I'm sure you've been partially informed, and I thought it would be best to give you the opportunity to be provided with the facts."

My tea cup had paused halfway to my mouth, which thankfully wasn't open. Bad guys offering information, what should I make of that? There was a sufficiently awkward pause before my tea cup resumed its course and I drowned it in one gulp. Still, I didn't know what to say. Sure, I had questions, but the phrasing had to be right, and I had to make sure not to insult, and of course, they could always just lie to me.

Vanessa's chuckles filled my silence, and the other two women joined in. "Oh, my dear, I didn't mean to overwhelm you. I know they must have told you some awful things, some of which are true, but I believe we just got off on the wrong foot. I was so focused on you being Clayton's girl, I didn't stop to think that you had been thrown into a bad situation. Let me help to pull you out of it."

I regretted drinking all my tea, because now I couldn't use it as a buffer to buy time. I had to say something. "I'm not sure how you would be able to help." Yeah, that wasn't the best choice, but it was the first thing that came to mind. This was not my finest moment under pressure.

Vanessa emitted another chuckle before continuing with her smooth, reassuring words. "Oh, Elisabeth, what has he told you? I bet no one even told you how this feud started. No? I didn't think so." The women exchanged meaningful glances. I reminded myself this conversation may not be legit, but she was right. No one had ever told me the beginning. How had a city of werewolves come into being? When did it break apart?

"I was here at the beginning," said Jezebel. Her voice was soft, but heavy set, with a deepness that can come with age. "It was a good beginning, almost twenty years ago. It must have been, else we never cold have lasted this long."

"twenty years?" I couldn't help but ask.

Jezebel smiled, nodded, and sipped her tea. "Oh, yes, it has been quite a journey. Brunsee has seen its share over the years." She sighed. "Not all of it memories I wish to dredge up. However, I believe this is important. I believe there are things you should know." The room was silent as Jezebel stirred her tea. I had expected some sign to come from Vanessa as to what Jezebel should say, but Vanessa was sitting motionless in her chair.

"I had met Jeremy in college. He was majoring in history, with an emphasis on the ancient meditation cultures. Even then he was gifted. He had the strangest theories, and no matter how obscure, he could make even the skeptics consider them. I always knew he would become a leader.

"I never knew he was a werewolf. Not until a month after I was attacked. I wasn't the first wolf he had found, nor the first he had accepted into his pack. He continued finding strays, sometimes states away, and shepparding us all to a safe place for the full moons.

"Except, one night, there were people in the forest we hunted in. They shot one of us, and in turn… well, we were wolves at the time and we protected our own. No one ever found the bodies. Jeremy did all he could to cover up what happened, but he recognized the risk of so large a group gathered in a spot anyone could go to. By then, Jeremy had gained a great deal of money from his family. He had also been published in several journals, and his theories, while not taken seriously by the general community, had gained a following. He received grants for research, and since he had no need to work he invested all of his money into a large property in the middle of a forest that had not yet been inhabited.

"There were only sixteen of us then. We pooled all of our money and savings to help pay for basic construction. At first, all we had was the hotel. We used it as a sort of dormitory. It was a safe place we could come to whenever we needed it, a safe place we could send other wolves to if we found them.

"Jeremy created all of this for us. He saved all of us from solitude, and probable death. Did you know most lone wolves die within a year of being turned? There are so few safe places in the world now, this is all we have."

I believed her because she didn't sound like she was trying to convince me of anything. She sounded like she was repeating an old story that she had left alone for a very long while.

"It sounds like this town wasn't so bad, way back when," I said.

"Well, it wasn't a town yet," said Jezebel. "That came later. Over the next few years we built it ourselves. We had enough people by then, and enough resources. Fewer and fewer people wanted to return to their old lives. We made a living here, became family. Some tried to have families, but the babies would die during their mothers' transformations.

"Meanwhile, Jeremy had used his smarts, and a lot of luck, to fund this town. By then he had lost all popularity in his field of research. His theories had gotten stranger and stranger, some of us even had trouble believing he could be right. We let him study and hypothesize on his own. Eventually he became almost a hermit. He stayed that way for almost a year, coming out only for the moon. Then one day he came back. He had always led our pack, but that was the day he took charge. He said he no longer needed to study, he knew what he had been searching for.

"We didn't know what he meant, but we didn't really care, either. Jeremy was once again taking on his role of protector. In the next five years the town doubled. Jeremy sent out searches across the country, finding other wolves who needed our help. He didn't want any one of us to be alone. It was too often we found people who had ruined their lives or killed those they loved because they hadn't known any better. He saved everyone in this town."

The chink of Jezebel's tea cup being set on the table emphasized her current silence. There was no doubt that this was the end of the story she wanted to tell. It was only the beginning. I had hoped for more.

"So when did it all go wrong?"

"We are wolves," Natalie said. "Conflict can start from anything."

"It had to do with who had power," Vanessa said, "and who wanted it."

"Well, Jeremy had the power," I said. "When did Clayton start wanting to take it from him?"

"Clayton hadn't really been part of the pack…" Vanessa's voice slowly trailed off into silence. She was lost in her thoughts for a moment before she picked the conversation back up. "He hadn't really been one of us. Some months he would show up for the moon. Sometimes he would stay with us for a week or two, but always on his own at first. During the moon the wolves used to always follow Jeremy, he was the leader.

"After a year of Clayton turning with us, some of the wolves would follow him when he took his own paths," Said Vanessa. She sipped her tea before continuing. I had the distinct impression that she was choosing her words carefully. "It wasn't healthy for the pack, to have the divide in it. We are, in many ways, animals. We run off instinct, power, and whatever factors force us to obey. Order only exits in this town because the powerful keep the weak in line. Without strong alphas, the weaker wolves would be entangled in squabbles, often turning into fatal fights. We have seen chaos here before. We did not want it again.

"Jeremy stepped up and demanded that the pack follow one leader only. He explained that two alphas would cause turmoil, put the wolves on edge, and make it more likely for discovery. It was not safe. No one was permitted to follow Clayton. At first things returned to normal, but then, one night, a large group followed Clayton again. Jeremy had all of them punished, and Clayton banished.

"Clayton left, for a time. But then, one week when Jeremy was gone Clayton returned. We told him to leave town, but he refused, we tried to force him to leave, but Lurio had gone with Jeremy, and I was unable to stop him alone.

"Clayton and his followers took over the city. They proclaimed new laws, disregarding Jeremy's as inadequate. They released wolves that had been found dangerous to the community, and disrupted our order. By the time Jeremy returned for the moon the town was in an uproar. Many were confused as to who the leader was.

"Clayton controls enough power that he can change shape at will. He was waiting for Jeremy in wolf form when Jeremy entered town. He gave Jeremy just enough time to change before attacking. Jeremy had been traveling rigorously, and had not expected an attack upon his return. He was weary, and unprepared. I am convinced that without these advantages, Clayton would never have won. I am sure Clayton knew it as well, and timed his attack accordingly."

I took all of this in stride, and considered the implications. It was a story similar, if not identical, to what Charley had told me. However the perspective was reversed. Clayton looked like a villain, a cheap, sneaky villain. Jeremy was the fallen hero who'd been tricked into defeat. Regardless of whether this was true or not, it still didn't explain much. Vanessa led me to believe that all Clayton wanted from this was power. Except, he never seemed that way to me. I had to wonder, was there something more? What about Jeremy's rule over this town had inspired Clayton to take over?

I never did get the chance to ask. The conversation was brought to an end by a disturbance from the front of the house. The voices could have been quiet and I still probably would have heard them. As it was, the shouts burst through the walls, giving me surround sound quality of the argument.

"Like hell I can't come in!" Clayton roared. It was the first time I'd heard him sound so openly angry. Clayton stomped down any chance of argument as he stormed towards the sitting room we occupied. "You had no right to bring her here, and don't even think I would have allowed it. I told Vanessa to stay the hell away." By now he was just outside, and we were all sitting hushed and questioning. Maybe the others knew what to expect from Clayton's outburst, but I didn't.

When Clayton barged into the room booth men who had been statue still this whole time stepped between their protected and Clayton.

"Dante," Clayton growled, "Move."

I felt sparks of power flickering off of Clayton. It was nothing like the rush I felt during the full moon, but even just the power that made it past my guard, Dante, made everyone else in the room feel small. Even as he stood there, Dante began to grow in comparison, building up power of his own. It did not match Clayton's, it did not come close, but it was more than enough to make my chest flutter in nervous anticipation. He was strong, scary strong. Not quite Lurio, but far from what I was capable of.

"Dante," Vanessa said, "let the man alone. It's not the time for this" At her command Dante's power fizzled to an end, and only Clayton's was left to thicken the room. Clayton growled again, and Dante stepped aside.

I felt Clayton's rapid strides and tried to hurry to my feet before he got close enough to pull me up. I only half made it. He grabbed my arm and jerked, and for the briefest moment I got a flash of his mind. It was a head rush like nothing I'd ever felt from him. Anger. Concern. Rage. So much that I didn't have time to identify. Enough to make me catch breath I didn't need, to make me forget I was holding the cup as my hands spasmed from shock. The tea cup cracked in my fist, and I felt the sharp sting of small cuts. In that instant Clayton blocked his mind off from mine, and the world once again became what it should.

Vanessa was on her feet yelling at Clayton. I couldn't remember when she'd gotten there. "Of all the moronic things you've done, Clayton. You know you don't belong here! You're kidnapping this girl! She came here by invitation, of her own free will, unthreatened by me or mine. We were only talking. You have no right to even be here, little less steal someone from my care. Not a pack member will disagree with me!" Vanessa might be shrieking, but my gut grew more uneasy from her words than her tone. I could smell trouble boiling. Clayton grew more ridged as Vanessa continued shouting. He still gripped my arm, but he wasn't pulling me from the building.

"She's mine, I have every right to take her," Clayton said under a veil of calmness. Tension vibrated off of him, he fooled no one, but his ability to at least pretend proved he was still in control of himself. I think.

"It doesn't matter," Natalie, Vanessa's second, said. "Any woman who wants sanction is protected here. By your own rules. Or do these rules only apply when convenient to you?" The sneer in her voice was too obvious, it made my stomach knot.

Clayton's jaw tightened as he fought for an argument that wouldn't sound contradictive. No one could stop him from taking me out of this room, but there was more at stake in his decision then I had enough knowledge to understand.

Now it wasn't just Clayton's power in the room. Vanessa and Natalie radiated with it. Dante's energy ran over my skin, giving me goose-bumps, and Vanessa's man emitted such a deep, grizzly pulse I felt I would choke on the air I didn't even need to breathe with.

"Clayton," I gasped, my free hand trying to block the taste of so many forces fighting for my attention out of my mouth. My voice dragged him away from the other wolves in the room. He devoted his entire attention to me, and that was almost worse. While I couldn't see his mind, his power pulsed through his hand, up my arm, and into my brain. It was all too much for me in so cramped a space. "Can we go?" My question released all of the power that had built up in the room. I suddenly felt empty and light headed.

"If that's what you want," Clayton said. He released my arm, which might have been bruised if I didn't have super healing powers. He took my left hand in his, and used his right to guide me towards the exit. No one from the sitting room said anything as we left, though I turned my head as if to look back. I had more questions to ask, more history that I wanted to know. It just wouldn't have been worth it if it resulted in a large conflict. I couldn't help but think, though, that it was the conflict that they had wanted all along. Clayton breaking his own rules. There was something to gain from that.

When we exited the house I was able to breathe in fresh air, and it was enough for me to relax. Clayton, on the other hand, lost none of his tension, and outside by ourselves I could only be more aware of it. He led me in silence, at first, walking me down Vanessa's driveway and then out onto a road. We walked back towards town for several minutes, Clayton waiting until there was a fair distance between us and Vanessa's wolves.

"Elisabeth, you're going to get yourself killed," he said at last.

My lips pursed, but that was my only sign of resentment. "It's not like it would be easy."

I felt a rumbling in Clayton's chest, the buildup of a growl that came out low and deep, more like a grumble then a threat. "You may be hard to hurt, but Lurio has hurt you in the past. If he can do it once, he will find a way to do it again. Next time he may turn full wolf when he attacks you. If he can get his serum in you first, you wouldn't be able to do anything to stop him."

I shrugged, but turned my head away to hide my defeat. It was true, somehow they could hurt me. But still… "Do you just expect me to sit still forever?" I asked. "Leave me alone in your house where I'm shunned because I'm strange and scary? Leave without a word goodbye, without a notion of when you will return?"

Clayton's hold on my hand tightened moderately, not into a grip, but certainly a firm and frustrated pressure. "I was only gone four days," he muttered. "And there is only two weeks left. It's not forever. Not like that."

It was my turn to grumble. "Two weeks is a long time when you're cooped up in a room all by yourself, restricted to a house filled with strangers. "

"A house full of strangers, where you're _safe_," Clayton stressed.

Growing frustrated, I tried to pull away from Clayton. He held on firm so I gave up. "I don't need to be safe, Clayton. I've spent enough time being safe to be sick of it, and enough time in danger to know how to handle it. You think this is bad? It's just a couple angry demons whose problems would be solved just by me leaving. I'm a Slayer. I've been hunted for years. I've killed things that would scare even you. I've gone up against the first bloody evil, and I'm still here!" This time I pulled harder so that Clayton would let me go. I sped up to walk a few paces in front of him. He let me lead, following far enough behind to give me some space. I let myself calm down before I continued. "I'm tired of this, Clay. It's a feud with a history I don't understand, where I don't know which side is right. My job is to protect the innocent, fight the bad guys, kill the demons. This place is filled with demons, old and bitter. But they're not mine."

Clayton didn't say anything for a long time. He shoved his hands in his pockets, and watched me as I stormed forward in a vain attempt to work out my frustrations. This might be my last moment outside for two weeks. I knew I should savor it, but I felt it more important to use the time to wear myself out. Maybe then I could just go back to bed, lie on the broken springs and roll the blankets into a ball around me.

"Elisabeth," Clayton said at last. I did nothing to acknowledge him. "I understand why you're angry." It wasn't what I wanted to hear. If he argued with me I could justify being angry with him. Yelling now would just make me look whiny.

"Elisabeth," he said again. Still, I didn't answer. "What do you want me to do? I could put you in the hotel. I could move you into someone's house. You can stay anywhere in town that you want." It was a generous offer, and I knew it, but his tone left the offer unfinished. My shoulders hunched as I prepared for what he would say next. "You could go anywhere in town. I would go with you for protection, if you wanted. But nowhere would be safe, not really. We both sleep sometime. If there is anyone with you when Lurio chooses to attack, they won't be safe, either. You might be used to the risk, but it is my job to insure as little risk for my people as possible. If they attack, and you die, it is because I let you die." I began to walk quicker, I didn't want to hear him say this. It was true, completely true, and that just made the guilt stronger. Clayton had no trouble speeding up to match me, but I just shrugged my shoulders up and pretended I could pull my head into them like a turtle. If I hid well enough, maybe he would leave me alone.

"Elisabeth," he said one last time. My lips pursed again. "I don't want you to die."

Finally I stopped walking. I turned to face Clayton, and was completely at a lost for what to say. I could play nice, do what he wanted me to do and go back to his house where I would be safe, where he wouldn't have to worry. I had a room already, I was sure Clayton would go to more trouble to keep me company, Alucard would be there. But it wasn't what I wanted. My mouth opened to say as much, but I couldn't utter the words. It was only two weeks. Was I so selfish that I couldn't last for two weeks? It wouldn't be the first time I was put in hiding. It wouldn't be the first time I was crammed in a house with strangers. I had spent two years on the run, then months hiding with the other Slayers. This wouldn't be my first time. What made this so different?

"I don't know what to do," I said at last. My voice sounded weak, lost. It scared me.

Clayton stepped forward then. He came and wrapped his arms around me, laying my head on his chest and murmuring soft words. I didn't realize I was shivering until he held me. His hand rested on the back of my head, fingers brushing my neck. I felt our minds connect again, but this time there was only warmth. His mind was comforting, whispering promises to keep me safe, to take care of me. I felt concern, affection, and tenderness. I let myself dissolve into his arms, forgetting about everything surrounding us, pushing aside all of my problems. Clayton would take care of me and everything would be all right. And yet… something was wrong.

At once I remembered. I felt Clayton know it to before I shoved him away from me. "No," I said, with absolutely no firmness behind it. "Just, just stop it," I stuttered. Clayton stood where I had pushed him, statue still. "I don't know what you feel for me, but I love Alucard. I'll stay here for two weeks, but then I'm gone. That's it. Quit trying to make anything else happen. That's all there is!"

I couldn't bring myself to run away, as much as I may have wanted to. Instead I walked quickly, leaving Clayton standing alone on the road. "Elisabeth, wait!" He called. I ignored him and kept walking. I could feel the town up ahead, plenty of werewolves in their homes along the main road. If I could make it that far it was unlikely that Clayton would make a scene. Clayton began to walk after me, but apparently if I wouldn't run, neither would he. We marched down the road in a determined fashion, and while Clayton gained, he would have to speed up more in order to beat me to the town.

Victory burst through me when I turned onto the road and past the first building where I could feel people inside. At that point Clayton realized he would need to be subtle, and he sped up to walk beside me. No one was outside but us, but that didn't seem to be the reason chills crept into my spine. "Elisabeth, don't… oh hell, why do you have to be so difficult?" I paused in walking to listen, but no to Clayton. In the distance I heard gravel crunching. Then the gravel faded when the tires hit the dirt road of the town. "I mean, this should be simple, right? We got away from Vanessa, now all we have to do is go home. Can't we just settle everything else later?" A vehicle was driving in slow. I couldn't tell just how many people were inside of it, but at a guess I'd say five, maybe six. It felt strange though, unnatural. In a town full of werewolves that had to mean something. "All I'm saying is that I don't want there to be a problem," Clayton was still talking.

"Hey, Clay, this really isn't the time for this," I said.

He let out a big sigh and took a step away before circling back. "I know, I know. But I don't want you to be uncomfortable. I just want things to be alright between us."

The vehicle definitely had six people in it, must have been a van or something. In any case it had pulled into sight and Clayton glanced at it dismissively. "Clay, I really appreciate this heart to heart, and I know you don't open up much, but really, this isn't the time." He was about to say something until he noticed I was focusing all of my attention on the van ahead of me. I was thinking too hard, I knew it, and as the van drove past us I still couldn't tell what was wrong with it. Except… "They're not-"

"Werewolves," Clayton finished.

I shrugged. "Was going to say human." Clayton grunted.

The van's breaks squeaked as the driver jammed them into a sudden stop. Cautiously we both walked forward, veering sideways to keep distance between us and whoever we were approaching. I concentrated on relaxing, but I needed to focus on something else. As much as I hated it, I put my attention entirely on Clayton. His movements were smooth, predatory. I mimicked his actions, focused on his scent. The smell of the woods became stronger through him. The tread of his footsteps was almost silent, even with my enhanced hearing. My senses became clearer as I listened to him. I could hear the wind breeze through branches, and the grasshoppers chirping in the night. Everything was calm, relaxed for the evening, but still buzzing with vitality and life.

Everything except for the van.

My steps had frozen before I heard the side door of the van slam open. My senses were cleared, and I knew exactly who it was grinning out at me. Air began to rush in and out of me in near hyperventilating breaths. I heard my heart pound in my ears as blood began to pump through my veins. Arteries screamed from the unexpected rush of real life pouring through me. I would have cursed all the fates if I could have breathed for making me vulnerable at this moment. My body strained as I stumbled back a step.

"Hello Liz," said the calm, cocky voice of a master vampire, the most dangerous vamp I knew still living, and my former best friend. Zeke sauntered from the van with such extreme confidence, my heart jumped to my throat and it was all I could do to swallow it back down. "Liz, what's the worry? It's been such a long time. You don't know how long I've been looking for you." His voice ended as a dead cold threat. Shivers ran up my body as I staggered back again. I knew him well enough to know exactly how he was looking at me this very instant, with ice cold eyes that could make brown look black, telling exactly how he wanted to kill you.

I took one more step away before Zeke bared his fangs at me, giving Clayton the conformation of exactly what he was. I felt Clayton charge forward to attack Zeke, almost called him off, but before I had the chance to warn him four other vampires jumped out of the van to interfere. That was the last straw. Zeke with back up was more than I could handle on a good day. Right now, while I was still getting used to being almost human again, I just couldn't handle it. I turned and ran before anyone could stop me. Zeke watched me go, giving me a head start. I heard Clayton fighting with growling vampires, someone I didn't know screamed, and right before lighting fast feet chased after me, chimed Zeke's bone chilling laugh.

* * *

Now would be a good time to warn you that I may never finish this story. Who knows. Tonight I felt like writing and I more than doubled a chapter that had been on the bench for many, many months. I'm in Japan at the moment, though, and will be till January. So that in itself is a bit of a distraction. I know there are some people who are really interested in this story, though, and I do hope it goes somewhere. I remember having big plans for it once, and I suppose they haven't quite left me. 

Anyway, as always, thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

I didn't know I could run this fast. The past few weeks, all the times I had run from or towards someone, all the times I had tried to escape Clayton, were nothing compared to the all out dash I took part in now. I cursed my body for choosing this time to turn human. I was taking large, fearful gulps of air that would have been loud enough to alert any vampire to my presence. My heart beat pounded in my head, and I wished that I was the only one able to hear it. I couldn't hear Zeke behind me, he was able to move smooth and silent through the woods. I could feel him gaining on me, though. He never would have given me the head start if he didn't know he could overcome me. I pushed myself harder, speeding up until my legs and my lungs burned. I had super strength and super speed, it took a great deal to make my body hurt, but I broke all the barriers as I ran.

I wasn't worried about how I could run so smoothly through the forest. For the first time since I received these extra abilities, I accepted them not as a threat, but as a tool that might be the only thing that could save me. My body felt like it was one with the woods, but my mind was separated from that connection. All I could think was that I needed to get away, I needed to run faster. I didn't know where I was going, but the forest cleared a path for me to follow, and I did so without reserves.

When I burst through the veil of power that concealed the werewolves' field and hunting ground, I almost collapsed from the shock of it. Power surged into me, and every staggering step I took shot more bolts of pain up my legs. I didn't let myself stop, though. Even though I was barely more than stumbling, I kept moving while my body adjusted. I breathed the power in, and it danced in my lungs. It jumped to my blood and flowed through my body. My bones ached from the force of it, but still I moved forward. Fear gripped my guts from my slowness. How close would he be now?

_I need to run!_ I screamed in my head. I stopped fighting it and let the power surround me. _Help me! I need to run!_ I felt a spark inside of me. My legs burned from a new force and my lungs almost burst into flames, but then I could move again. Despite the pain and the power I fled further into the woods, losing myself in the forest. It filled me body and mind, until there was nothing left of my thoughts except for panic and the desire to go faster.

Distantly, I noticed Zeke enter the magic zone. The woods didn't like him, he was alien and dangerous. I could feel the forest thickening in front of him. He chased after me, but his way was made difficult by an overabundance of branches and fernery. Rocks appeared under his feet to make his path unsteady. He still moved fast, too fast, but gradually his ability to gain distance began to fade.

The forest wanted me to move faster. The power surged through me, giving me speed that would never otherwise have been possible. Still, there was more to be harnessed. The magic played with my body from the inside out. I felt it explore my insides, searching for whatever it was that would give me the final edge. Magic wrapped around my chest, squeezing a heart that felt like bursting. It burst into the core of my being, all of those chakra points where you keep your energy. I felt it touch something, recognize it, then drag it out of where my magic is stored, and release it into my body.

I screamed when the power hit me. The forest was nothing, a mild irritancy, compared to what it had released inside of me. The magic seared parts of me I had never before felt. It consumed everything in my body, and stopped me in my tracks. I felt myself fall, propelled forward by my momentum, but it was like watching from a different world. I could tell I was rolling on the ground, and that I eventually stopped after a small drop, but that was the last observation I made before I was lost in my body's inner struggle.

Whatever it was inside of me, it was trying to get out. Energy pulled at my skin, clawing from the inside. Energy pulsed against my skull, and I couldn't begin to understand what was happening to me. My brain was shot twenty minutes ago, and now that I was convulsing in pain there was no chance of it coming back to me. I felt my body arch as the magic inside me pulled it taunt. I tried to wrap my arms around me, but they wouldn't obey.

I felt the power build up in one arm. It grew and grew, I swear it must have been bulging. Then it blasted out towards my hand, slamming into my fingers in an attempt to extend them. For half a second I thought it worked. My fingers grew outwards, into longer, harder claws. I felt my hand transform into something inhuman, and it jump shocked my mind into awareness. Before I could confirm the transformation, my hand was normal again. I put both hands together, feeling the fingers to make sure they hadn't changed. Indeed, they were soft, fleshy limbs, exactly as they should be. Something had happened, though. I was sure of it. Either that, or I was turning a sort of crazy I hadn't yet explored.

There was no time to fight this, though. I could feel Zeke approaching. I needed to find away to control myself before he caught up with me, else I'd be a sitting duck. A squirming duck, more likely. The forest wanted me to relax, to give in. I could feel it pressing into my brain, an oozing insistence that I relax and let go. I couldn't do that, though. Whatever magic had been released inside of me was scary, and scary often added up to dangerous. I did what I could to control it, though. I focused on keeping my body in line, worked myself up to managing to be able to keep it still. If I could stay still I could stay quiet. Forget that I needed to breathe, forget that my heart was pulsing like a mad man's. I couldn't run now, I had to try to hide. I didn't even know if I was in plain sight or not, but I put some trust in the forest to do what it could to protect me, seeing how it was what screwed me over in the first place.

I didn't hear Zeke's approach, but I felt him close in on me. I tried to hold my breath, willed myself to be invisible, but I knew that it wouldn't be enough to conceal me. I was hidden at least behind something, for when Zeke was only a few feet away, he paused to examine the area.

"Liz," Zeke said as he peered through the bushes. "I know you're here." My lungs burned because they wouldn't admit I didn't the oxygen. I squeezed my hands into fists and begged body not to betray me. "I can hear your heart beating." Zeke's voice took me back to a different time, a different place. Even as he turned his head directly towards me I was remembering a different scene, the last time I had hidden from Zeke, the last time I had run away.

* * *

I had to stand on my tip toes to reach up behind the light fixture, but sure enough, the key was still there. I pushed my sunglasses back into place as I came back to the ground, plastered with a victorious grin. Zeke had rented the same old P.O.S. apartment since he came to Puyallup, and it didn't surprise me that now that he was back he'd started up right where he left off. It had been two months since I had fought the Boss, and when Zeke had been thrown out of his vault he'd been tossed out into Seattle. A few quick calls had been all I needed to find out where he was staying now. I had left a message on his answering machine yesterday that I was back in town.

To think, it had been almost three years since I had strolled into the apartment. It still felt like home. I had rented my own place half way up South Hill back when I had lived in this city, but I spent just as many nights hanging with Zeke and the gang as I did at my own place.

The apartment hadn't changed much over time, and that made it easier to identify the objects in the room. There was the same old couch, one I knew to be a faded grey with two scraggly pillows and a handful of stains. Two bookshelves sat against the wall, over stuffed with all the books Zeke had bought. My hand slid across a few of the bindings, already bent into submission from long nights of reading. The buzz of a computer was new, as was the TV in the corner. Zeke had never been short of money, but this was the first time I'd seen anything around the apartment to show it off.

I ventured into the kitchen, quite certain Zeke wasn't home. He would have come out to say something if he had been. A tool kit sat on the kitchen table, with another identical one on the floor next to it that I stubbed my toe on. I didn't open either of them, despite my curiosity. Not respecting Zeke's privacy wasn't going to get me far when I had to explain to him why it took me two months to contact him. Even so, I moved on and tried the door to Zeke's room.

This was the least used part of his apartment, known best for the solid oak dresser that still stood to the right of the door, and the piles of clothes littering the floor. Zeke used the room most only for changing clothes, and occasionally storing boxes. I let the bedroom door shut behind me as I walked to the dresser. I knelt down so that my hands could feel their way down the dresser, to the bottom drawer, which squeaked open when I pulled. I picked up whichever article of clothing was on top then laid it out over my knees. I felt along the edges of the shirt, recognizes it as a girl-T, and wondered what possessed Zeke to keep my clothes after three year of me being gone.

Suddenly, I heard the front door slam open. I remembered that I had forgotten to lock it, and hoped that Zeke wasn't in a fit because he thought someone had broken in. I need not have worried, though, because of the many people who barged inside, none of them were Zeke. I sprung to my feet, intending to see what the commotion was about, when the talking started.

"Hey, man, come on, don't be like that," said a man. Shaky would underestimate the uncertainty in his tone, but he had not yet progressed to outright fear.

My hand paused before I touched the door handle. I wasn't sure what was going on, and discretion seemed the best choice before barging in.

I heard another man speak, "Terry, put him in the chair." My hand pulled back as I recognized the voice. Jonathan had been the most laid back of the vampires I used to hang out with, but now with him grunting harsh orders his voiced seemed to belong to a different person.

I heard scuffling and several protests from the first man before he was dragged into the kitchen and thrown into the lone chair next to the table. Slowly, I leaned against the door, bringing my ear as close to the crack between the door and the wall as I could without making a sound. I relaxed my mind to feel what was going on in the other room. There were four people, and only the man sitting was human. The other three surrounded him, boxing him into his seat as they towered over him.

"Seriously, guys," the seated man said, his voice growing taunt. "I don't know where it is. I can't help you. I mean, I tried to find it, but come on, what else can I do?" No one replied for a few seconds, leaving the man to sweat as they stared at him.

"Last week you said you could find it," said another familiar voice. I met Eddy at a glam rock concert in Seattle. He liked to wear tight jeans and wore his hair long. He only ever sounded this happy when he was about to cause trouble.

The man fidgeted in the chair. "Yell, well, my buddy had a lead, I thought it would turn out…"

"I really don't think he's going to help us," Eddy said as the guy trailed off.

"He's about useless," the fourth man agreed. I felt some relief that I didn't recognize his voice.

Jonathan made an exaggerated sigh. "Well, now he's gone and got the word out without any results," he said. I felt him take a step back as he considered this. "What _are_ we going to do about that?"

Eddy bobbed on his heels. "We could follow his trail and make sure no one talks," he suggested. He was being much too happy about it.

Just then the front door opened again, and I knew instantly who walked inside. Zeke strolled into the kitchen, taking his time to observe the situation. He looked at each person in turn, noticing Eddy's buoyant persona, and the human's reeking fear. I could feel his nerves through the door. Zeke addressed his only question to Jonathon. "Can he get it?"

Jon shook his head. "Nah, he's got nothing."

The man started to shake his head. "Come on now, I can still help you out. I mean, I know people, you know?" The man continued to ramble, his words speeding up and his pitch growing higher as Zeke didn't respond. Zeke watched him without interest, contemplating what he should do about the situation.

His decision came with one swift motion, so quick I wasn't able to follow it. Or maybe my mind just refused to make sense. The man's choked off voice should have explained things, or the last gurgle forced out of his throat. But no, it wasn't until the scent of blood leaked through the door that I understood what Zeke had done. It was then that an involuntary gasp, bordering on a gag, escaped me. I raised a hand to my face, hiding a grimace behind it, and wondering how the blood smelled so pungent. After experiencing so much gore, this should have been nothing.

I had lost focus of the other rooms, and the bedroom door opening took me by complete surprise. A new wave of air hit me, and it was nothing near fresh. I stepped back reflexively, and didn't even realize that it was Zeke standing in front of me until he spoke.

"Liz," he said. In one word he conveyed all the awkwardness I had ever heard him speak. His voice brought back so many memories, so much of the time we had spent together. My mind ached from the effort it took to match it to the murder I had witnessed.

In my shock I said the pointless. "I left you a message." My hand gestured vaguely towards the phone.

Zeke had no response. I felt him staring, his eyes boring into me as if he wasn't sure if I were real. The other vampires stood stagnate, caught in the act, completely blind sighted by my appearance.

"Liz," Zeke said again with conviction. "You're alive!" He stepped forward, arms wide as if to hug me, but I backed away, stumbling into laundry, but not letting it stop me. I was kicking a shirt off my foot when Zeke stopped moving. It took him a moment of staring at me for it to dawn on him, and then he turned back to the vampires. "Take him and get out of here." He pointed at the corpse.

All three of the vamps hesitated, but Jonathon was the only one to speak. "Zeke, are you-"

"Get out."

There was no hesitation this time. I took another step back as I listened to the vampires gather up the corpse. They were quite efficient about getting it out of the apartment. It made me think they had done it before.

Zeke had remained silent as they worked. However, he spent the time showing signs of nerves. I felt him step back, then forward again. He raised his hands twice, as if he was accenting something he was about to say, but instead of saying anything he noticed something wrong with his hands. After a second's pause he picked something random up off the floor and whipped his hands clean.

When all was still in the apartment Zeke finally spoke. "I thought you were dead."

I could still smell blood from the kitchen. Zeke might be sounding affectionate, but in the sixty years I'd known him he never once committed cold blooded murder in front of me. Of course he was a vampire, but still, he'd always been a different sort of vampire. I didn't know what to say to him now.

"Liz, don't look at me like that," he snapped. "You don't know what that guy did. I swear to you, he was a bad person. He disserved worse than what I did to him."

I didn't know how to express my thoughts, I wasn't even sure what I was thinking. "Zeke… you're supposed to be the better vampire," I said.

Zeke snapped his fingers, as if I had made a point for him. "I am the better vampire," he said.

I gapped. "The good guys don't have pools of blood on their kitchen floors!"

"Come on, Liz," Zeke said. "I see you for the first time, and this is what we're going to talk about?" He ignored my hesitations this time as he strolled forward and wrapped his arms around me. I tried to break lose for just a moment, but then gave up. Still, I didn't hug him back. "Liz, how are you not dead?"

I shook my head. "It's a long story," was my only explanation. Zeke accepted it for the moment, and after the initial contact to assure him I was real, he loosened his hold.

"I can't believe this," he said. "I've contacted anyone I could think of who might have known what happened to you, and I never got any response. I just assumed… there was nothing left to guess, after what I'd seen… you made it! God, of course you made it." He stepped back to cup my face in his hands, smiling down at me. "You always were a survivor."

I pushed his hands away. "Zeke, you always said you weren't the murdering type." I grabbed his wrists before he pulled his hands away, pulling them back towards my face. "I can still smell the blood on your fingers." Zeke yanked his hands back, clinching them into fists. I could feel a spark of his anger in the air.

"I told you, he deserved it." A growl had begun to grow under his words and as he continued to talk it only got louder. "He was a double crossing little sneak, selling the same lie to everyone around, dealing in the dark stuff, magic, artifacts, organs, whatever he could get his hands on. The world's better off with him dead."

"And who gets to decide that?" My voice rose with his. "Come on Zeke, cold blooded murder? You don't get to write that one off."

"How many people have you killed?" Zeke shouted back. "You go out and kill every day. Who gets to decide which murder is the good one?"

My mouth gapped without response. "What I do isn't murder, Zeke. What I kill is evil. Monsters. What I do saves people."

I felt a change in the room, energy focusing on Zeke. He had gone vamp and the smell of the demon in him was thick in the air. "What stops me from being a monster?" He asked. "Come on, Liz, we were friends, you've seen me like this without shrinking back. You've watched me hunt. You've known me long enough to know what I'm made of." Again he approached me, this time I stood my ground. "What is it, Liz? Can't even look at me now? Maybe I am a monster, but then it wasn't me who changed."

I turned my head away from him, not having realized that I must have been facing his chest for the whole conversation. My fingers twitched, unsure of what to do, whether I should reveal my biggest weakness to the man who I used to feel closest too. Was it true? Was I the one who was different now? I remembered Zeke as a vampire who wanted to live in society, who wanted to work with the humans, and who didn't see himself as a god amongst animals. Could he still be that man? After two thousand years as a vampire Zeke had his share of kills, enough to make me sick if I thought about it. But then so did Alucard. I trusted Alucard with my life, even with his faults. Maybe… maybe Zeke deserved more from me as well.

My face remained directed towards the floor as my unsteady hands removed my glasses. "It's not you, Zeke. I can't look at anyone anymore." My uncertainty kept me staring at the floor, but Zeke bent down to glimpse what I was referring to. Gently, he guided my chin so that he could look clearly. He took his time examining me.

"What happened?" His voice was softer now.

"The boss killed what he could of me," I said.

Zeke caressed the skin around my eyes, gently assuring himself there was no other damage. He leaned his head against my own, sliding his face back to normal as he did so. "You kinda kicked his ass back there, didn't you?"

A smile tugged my lips. "All in a day's work."

I could smell his breath as he laughed. It hinted at mint, with the warm copper scent distant. Zeke's chuckle was deep and familiar, relieving some of the tension from my body. "I've missed you, Liz."

"I know," I said, "I've missed you, too." Finally, I let myself lean forward and embrace him. When Zeke hugged me back I felt a security that stretched beyond what I had with Alucard. This wasn't about romance or sex, it was pure and simple friendship. A love that lasts when everything goes wrong, and even when you hate each other you know they'll still be there for you.

My arms slid up around his neck, and I felt skin touch. There was a jolt as my mind slid into his. It had only ever happened before with Alucard, and I hadn't even known others were capable of sharing their minds with me. Zeke's was worm, comforting. His eyes were closed, the only senses I got from him was the comfort he felt being able to relax against me, and how he pressed his face into my hair so he could breath in my scent. His mind wasn't quite aware of my presence, and showed me only a vague impression of what was in it. I felt his relief that I was safe and alive, his excitement and joy at having a friend again, someone close enough to trust with everything, and that warmth that showed me why I had always treated him as a person, not a monster. Monsters didn't know how to love.

I pressed my mind deeper into his, finding security in the certainty of it. I pressed past the surface, reaching beyond until his mind surrounded my own. My senses melted with his own, our thoughts blended together, and there was no way to hide what lay behind them. I glimpsed what came beyond Zeke's thoughts of me, at everything else that was in his life, and the blackened, malicious, vile thoughts that lingered there gouged into my brain. I threw myself back, pushing Zeke away, and almost certain, that even with super powers and an empty stomach, I was still going to be sick.

"Liz, what's wrong," Zeke asked.

"You killed them," I whispered, my body bent and sagging.

Zeke was baffled. "What?"

"Fucking god, Zeke," I whispered, "it's only been two months."

"Liz, what are you talking about?"

"Those people, all those people…" I said. "Whatever it is you're looking for, it can't be worth all those people." I turned back to the kitchen, once again focusing on the smell that by now was turning stale. "He might have deserved it, but not all of them did. You can't just kill people for not helping you."

Zeke had turned defensive. I felt him back up, cross his arms over his chest. He might not know what inspired my shock, but he didn't try to deny my accusations. I had hoped what I'd seen was wrong. Now I knew it wasn't. "Are you just a demon under it all?" I asked.

"What the hell makes you think I've been killing people?" He snapped.

I closed my eyes and hugged myself as my mind replayed the brief contact it had with his. He was calculated, goal driven, searching for something. I could taste apathy for anything not directly concerning him, anything that got in his way. I could taste the pleasure he got from ripping throats out, devouring them if convenient. I could feel how the scent of blood surrounding us excited him.

I forced myself to my feet, standing straight before I began to walk out of the room. I pushed past Zeke, but he caught my wrist before I could pass completely. "Liz, wait, I had a reason." For the first time since coming back I put all my energy into blocking out all inputs into my mind. I twisted my wrist into his thumb, using my super strength to battle his, breaking his hold. "Liz, I can explain." He followed on my heels as I entered the kitchen. I was so busy blocking him out that it got in the way of me seeing anything else. Disoriented, I paused, and Zeke caught me again.

"It's not for nothing, Liz," He said. "Yes, I have done bad things, and I'll prolly do worse, but it's not for nothing." This time I intentionally turned away, stretching against the hands holding me. "Liz, listen! You know what it was like before. I was able to keep the whole city in line, more than the city. From Seattle to Olympia, the vamps were almost in check. Imagine that power, being able to keep all those people safe?"

"How does killing innocent people keep them safe?"

"I'm sorry, I know, I shouldn't have. But it's almost over. I'm so close now. Just a few more weeks and I'll be able to protect people."

I scoffed. "Protect people? Is that what you really want, Zeke?"

"I want to keep my friends safe," he said, pulling me back close to him. "Imagine, having control over all the demons in the state? On the west coast? The continent? I can do it. I can establish order, stop so much violence. I would be able to police all of us. Help people."

I had to squeeze words out of a throat that felt swollen shut. "Is that what you want, Zeke? Take over the world? Feel the boss's shoes?"

He shook his head. "I wouldn't be like the boss."

I tried to hold back tears by squeezing my eyes shut, and my heart ached as I spoke to him. "You're worse than the boss. He at least admitted he was evil. Never tried to hide his search for power behind good intentions he didn't believe in." I broke out of Zeke's hold too easily. He wasn't trying so hard to keep me trapped. Once again I began to leave the apartment.

"Liz, stay with me." I didn't stop walking toward the door. "If you're worried, you can help. Tell me when I'm out of line, keep me in check." When I didn't acknowledge his offer he sounded more frantic. "Damn it Liz, I'll tell you everything, you can make the plans with me, let me explain!" I had reached the door, was opening it, when I felt Zeke move to stop me. I dropped all my guards so that I could know my surroundings well enough to rush outside, slam the door behind me just before he reached it. It wouldn't stop him, but it gave me time to run for the stairs. If Zeke hadn't taken time to think before following me outside he could have stopped me before I reached the car. He made it to the stairs to watch me jump inside, to see Alucard sitting at the steering wheel, and here me tell him to get the hell out of here. He probably even saw me cry as we drove away.

Alucard didn't ask anything for ten minutes as he drove towards the freeway. Finally, he broke the silence. "Are you alright?" he asked.

My head rested against the window, trying to use the cold glass to cool my flushed face. I felt like my heart was pounding, even as it remained statue still. Every nerve was on end. Zeke's brain had shown me too much, and not enough. Imagines of people dying, people who he planned to kill, his excitement over the chase. The man in the kitchen, he was just one, one of the ones Zeke wanted to kill to night. Just one of the ones he had sent his goons after. Slowly I turned to face Al, my body growing tenser as my mind made its decision. "Don't get on the freeway just yet," I said. "We have work to do before we leave."

* * *

So, I'd just like to point out, that all though the last chapter got 13 hits, it had no reviws. Which is sad, because if the reviewing followed it's previous pattern, I should have gotten at least one. I am milding sad. But hey, I wrote something, right? So go me! I even like this chapter. (It's like one of the three scenes I had mapped out in my mind before the story actually started... Now I have to work up to the third... and figure out what the hell the ending will be). Anywho. Thank you for reading (maybe?) Show me some loving and make me smile. points to review button below


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